LIBRARY OF WELLES LEY COLLEGE PURCHASED FROM Eorsford Fund THE NEW ART LIBRARY Edited by M. H. SPIELMANN, F.S.A., &> P. G. KONODY THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Plate I Pencil Study by the Author Trees hanging over a bank would often appear unbalanced, if it were not for the projecting- roots that grip the bank surface and reach down its face.' THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES THEIR STRUCTURE b3 TREATMENT IN PAINTING BY REX VICAT COLE ILLUSTRATED BY 50 EXAMPLES OF PICTURES FROM THE TIME OF THE EARLY ITALIAN ARTISTS TO THE PRESENT DAY 6» 105 DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR, SUPPLEMENTED BY 300 DIAGRAMS IN THE TEXT " Painting is jealous, and requires the whole man to herself." Michael Angelo. SECOND EDITION LONDON SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LIMITED 38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET I92O The New Art Library " The admirable New Art Library. "—Connoisseur. New Voluve. Water Colour Painting-. I'.y Alfred W. Rich. With over to Illustrations. Price ios. 6d. nett. "Mr Rich's work has placed him among the comparatively few water-colourists of to-day who count, and the work of his students proves that he can teach."— Saturday Review. Recently Issued. The Artistic Anatomy of Trees. By Rex Vicat Cole. With ever 500 Illustra- tions. Square Extra Crown Svo. Price 15s. nett. The Practice and Science of Drawing. By Harold Speed. With 96 Illustrations. Pi ice 10s. 6d. nett. " No work on Art has been published in recent years which might be more advantageously placed in the hands of a young student, as a statement of the logical elements of drawing and painting. Every page shows robust common sense expressed in a clear style. . . . We imagine that Mr. Speed is an admirable teacher, and cordially recommend his treatise."- Athenmtm. The Practice of Oil Painting and Drawing. By S. J. Solomon, r.a. With 80 Illustrations. Second Edition. Price ios. 6d. nett. " The work of an accomplished painter and ex- perienced teacher."— Scotsman. " If students were to follow his instructions, and, still more, to heed his warnings, their painting would soon show a great increase in efficiency. Manchester Guardian. Human Anatomy for Art Students. By Sir Alfred Downing Fripp, k.c.v.o., Anatomy Lecturer at Guy s, London, and Ralph Thompson. With 159 Illustrations. Second Edition. Price 15s. nett. " Excellently illustrated from the first page to the last by original drawings and photographs most carefully taken."— Westminster Gazette. "Combines the best scientific and artistic infor- mation. — Connoisseur. Modelling and Sculpture. By Albert Toft, a.r.c.a., m.s.b.s. With 119 Illustrations. 15s. nett. " Will be found an invaluable aid to the student. . . . Takes the student step by step through the various technical processes, the text being sup- plemented by over a hundred excellent illustra- tions."— Studio. Seeley, Service & Co., Ltd., 3S Great Russell St. NC 210 CVS n'.i PREFACE In teaching, as I understand it, one must assume that the student knows nothing. When one has overcome the disagreeable feeling that this assumption implies, that of being set up on one's own little pedestal, one is able to be of more use than if one attempted to dovetail bits of knowledge into those that have already been acquired. This is more particularly the case when compiling a book that has to meet the ■needs of students in various stages of proficiency. My standpoint, then, for which I must apologise, is that the reader knows but little of draughtsmanship, and nothing of the construction of trees. I cannot understand the position of some who assert that an object can 'be painted in a convincing manner without its mechanism being understood. Would they come through the test of having to draw a yacht or a locomotive, or would they shuffle out of the difficulties by saying they only wished to give the " feeling " that impressed them ? I doubt whether the feeling alone would please the yachtsman, mechanic, or artist. At this stage I shall be accused of saying that correctness is the chief aim of the artist, when it is but a little part. Most of the greatest artists, if judged by the photographic standard, have drawn incorrectly. This is a fact I delight in, since — loving their work and yet confessing to a certain pleasure in accuracy — I find I am sufficient artist myself to recognise those finer qualities that can dispense with exactness without loss of merit. Sailors tell me that Turner's " Fight- ing Temeraire " could not have fought because she could not have sailed. To me she is the grandest ship ever painted, and I cannot listen to the carping of her critics. But Turner could and did draw ,correctly as well as grandly when he wished to do so. A love for the " Fighting Temeraire " still leaves room for delight in the exquisite -drawings of craft in detail that E. W. Cooke has left us. A great artist can express his ideas without insisting on facts, a competent craftsman is unhampered by them ; but to the young student the mere imitation of form by itself presents enormous difficulties, and to him a knowledge of all he wishes to paint is indispensable. There are times wThen it is an encouragement to refer to the lives of the great painters and to assure oneself again that even they could not dispense with toil but vi PREFACE steadfastly accumulated knowledge throughout their lives. It is well to think of our Etty, with his genius already developed, plodding at the life school ; and Turner poring over the mathematical laws of per- spective. The notebooks of others bear witness to their desire to under- stand with full appreciation all they saw before they allowed them- selves the licence of selection. Perhaps it will suffice to take the practical side, and wonder how anyone can spend a generous portion of his life in looking at objects with that uninquisitive intelligence which does not pry into the mysteries of construction. The knowledge of how a thing is built induces an intimate sympathy, giving us con- stant pleasure ; and the landscape painter must have as true a know- ledge of the branch anatomy of a tree as a figure painter has of the anatomy of the human form. The young student, not knowing how a tree is constructed, is unable to express its essential forms ; he loses their vitality, and makes his tree look nondescript and lifeless. The serious training of an art school devoted mainly to one object, the human figure, is difficult to apply out of doors to various and changing forms. It is for the student to supplement his teaching by a thorough grasp of the construction of forms, and to profit by the ex- perience gained by others during years of observation. This is not a book choked with dry botanical details or one giving receipts for the production of pretty sketches. It is a book for the serious student, whether amateur or professional, planned to give him facts — to help him to appreciate some of the aims of a landscape painter when dealing with trees, to save him time in his studies, and to guide him as to how to observe, so that with a sure knowledge of what lies behind appearances he can presently work out his indivi- duality. It has been my aim to give help of the same kind as Pollock has done in dealing with the forms of water in his charming book Light and Water. Someone — I do not remember who — has said : "It is not the addition of individual circumstances, but the omission of general truth, that makes the little, the deformed, and the short-lived in art." NOTE It is with considerable diffidence that I undertake the task of attempt- ing a description of Trees from the artist's point of view. A loving acquaintance with them each year brings home to me my shortcomings in rendering them as they should be rendered in the branch of art I follow — Painting. To this is added a new terror in having to use words ; and the temptation is to relinquish the effort and say instead that only those who can feel the beauty of Trees may attempt to paint them, and that to others their significance must for ever remain a closed door. If my statements appear dogmatic or dictatorial it is not because I think I can draw trees really well ; but only because I know that a large number of people draw them worse. ACKNOWLEDGMENT I am much indebted to Miss B. Fairbridge for overlooking the text. By her help many errors of grammar and punctuation were detected, and some uncouth and ill-expressed sentences reconstructed to a more palatable form. The bibliography has been compiled for me by my friend L. Bellin Carter, F.E.S.A. The tedious business of indexing the book has been undertaken by my wife. By the kindly co-operation of artists and owners of pictures I have been able to reproduce the work of living painters. My thanks in this respect are especially due to David Murray, K.A., George Clausen, R.A., Sir Ernest Waterlow, R.A., Edward Stott. A.R.A., Mark Fisher, A.R.A., Adrian Stokes, A.R.A., H. Hughes-Stanton, A.R.A., J. W . North, A.R.A., Oliver Hall, R.E., and to Lady East, Sir J. Herbert Roberts, Bart.,M.P viii CONTENTS PAGES General Introduction — Painting and drawing . . 1 7-25 PART I TREES CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO PAINTING CHAP. I. The painting of trees illustrated by a chronological series of pictures, with some descriptive notes . . 29-46 II. What to look for in trees : Balance — Single trees — Trees seen in masses — In groups — Composition . . 47-55 III. Balance of dark spaces with light, and of large masses with small — Weigh b of masses and delicacy — Trees seen near and far off 56-68 IV. Trees seen against the sky — Patterns formed by sky apertures 69-81 V. The outline of a tree 82-94 VI. Lines of the branches — Curves — Straight lines and elbows 95-109 VII. Variety in light and shade — Variety in colour — Some causes of this 110-120 VIII. Influence of situation — How trees adapt themselves to it — Effect of age, wind, frost, and snow — Moon- light 121-132 IX. Associations connected with trees . . . 133-144 ix CONTENTS PART II THE ANATOMY OF A TREE CHAP. PAGES X. Introductory 147-150 XI. Outline forms of trees — A short comparison of some species 151-159 XII. The likeness between twig and bough — The difference between shoot and twig — The arrangement of buds on the shoot : (1) opposite buds, (2) buds arranged singly, (3) buds crowded in groups 160-170 XIII. The effects produced on the branch anatomy of a tree by (1) opposite buds, the constant failure of buds ; (2) (a) buds arranged singly in two rows ; (6) in three or more rows ; (3) (c) buds clustered in groups — Twigs arrested in growth — Additional buds — Different branch systems of young and old trees 171-186 XIV. How a tree is built up 187-198 PART III THE DETAILS OF TREES XV. Introductory 201-207 XVI. Leaves — How they are set on the twigs : (a) right-angled pairs, (b) arranged singly in two rows, (c) in more than two rows, (d) leaves clustered — The position of old and young leaves — Leaf -stalks and how leaves are set on the twigs — Duration of leaves . . . 208-227 CONTENTS xi CHAP. PAGES XVII. Leaves (continued) — Forms of young leaves — Texture of leaves — Their colour — Leaf patterns — The margin — The veins — The planes of a leaf .... 258-247 XVIII. Flowers — The way flowers are arranged: (1) "Indefi- nite " inflorescence, (2) " Definite " inflorescence — "Raceme" "catkin," "capitum," "corymb," " umbel," " cyme " 248-260 XIX. Flowers (continued) — Shapes of flowers : " complete," "incomplete," "male," "female," "bisexual," "uni- sexual " — Trees that are " monoecious," " dioecious," " tricecious," " polygamous " — The construction of flowers 261-279 XX. Fruits — Winged fruits — Cones : " drupe,' " pome," " nut," " berry " — Construction of fruits . . 280-303 XXI. Lesser details: — Stipules — Bracts — Buds — Scales — Spines — Seedlings — The bark 304-318 Appendix — The Distribution of Trees in Europe . , . 319-325 Bibliography 327-336 Index to Drawings by the Author 337-339 „ to the Pictures reproduced in this Volume . . 341-342 to Letterpress 343-347 LIST OF PLATES PLATE I. Pencil Study by the Author . . ,v Frontispiece PAGE II. Blair Athol. J. M. W. Turner, R.A. . .29 III. Judgment of Solomon. Giorgione . . . .34 IV. Landscape. Rubens 34 V. Drawing in the British Museum. Guercino . . 34 VI. Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca. Claude Lorraine . 34 VII. Landscape with Figures. Gaspard Poussin . . 35 VIII. Tobit and the Angel. Rembrandt 35 IX. Tobit and the Angel Salvator Rosa . . 35 X. Return of the Ark from Captivity. Sebastian Bourdon ....... XL Judgment of Paris. Jan Both . XII. River Scene : Afternoon. Van der Neer XIII. The Avenue, Middelharnis. Hobbema XIV. Landscape with Animals. Adam Pynacker XV. (i) Les Champs Elysees. Watteau (ii) Fete in a Park. Pater Jean Baptiste . XVI. Landscape with Venus and Adonis. R. Wilson, R.A. 37 XVII. Wood Scene : Village of Cornard, Suffolk. Gainsborough 37 xiii 35 35 35 35 35 37 37 xiv THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES PLATE XVIII. The Market Cart. Gainsborough XIX. The Poringland Oak. Crome XX. Bay of Bale. Turner . XXI. The Valley Farm. Constable XXII. Wood Cutters. J. Linnell . XXIII. Souvenir de la Morte Fontaine XXIV. La Baigneuse. Diaz XXV. Watering Cattle. Troy on . XXVI. Crossing the Bridge. Dupre PAGE 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 39 39 XXVII. A Glade in the Forest of Fontainebleau. Rousseau 39 XXVIII. The Pathway to the Village Church. Creswick. 39 XXIX. A Pause in the Storm at Sunset. Vicat Cole, R.A. 39 XXX. The Winter Sun. J. W. North, A.R.A. . . 39 XXXI. Under the Wold. Sir A. East, R.A. . . 40 XXXII. The Road. G. Clausen, R.A 42 XXXIII. In the Mellow Autumn Light. Sir E. Waterlow, R.A. 44 XXXIV. Bolton Abbey. David Murray, R.A. ... 45 XXXV. The Pool in the Wood. Mark Fisher, A. R.A. . 46 XXXVI. The Hill Farm. Rex Vicat Cole .... 46 XXXVII. Dawn in Winter. Adrian Stokes, A. R.A. . . 46 XXXVIII. Fort St. Andre. Hughes-Stanton, A. R.A. . . 46 XXXIX. Study of Sycamore Trees. Oliver Hall, R.E. . 48 XL. A Study in Oils. Vicat Cole, R.A. ... 56 XLI. Study of Broken Sunlight. Rex Vicat Cole . 58 LIST OF PLATES xv PLATE PAGE XLII. A Summer Idyll. E. Stott, A.RA 60 XLIII. The Intricacy of Detail. Rex Vicat Cole . . 68 XLIV. Twisted Limb of an Old Holly. Rex Vicat Cole 112 XLV. Study of Fallen Willow. Rex Vicat Cole . .122 XL VI. Larches. Rex Vicat Cole 130 XLVII. Study in Oils. Vicat Cole, R.A 134 XLVIII. Trees seen against the Sun. Rex Vicat Cole . 136 NOTE TO THE READER The Plates, Illustrations, and Diagrams in this volume are indicated by the use of different kinds of type thus :— Plate XX Illus. 20 Fig. 20 Unless the reader keeps this steadily before him, he will probably confuse the references to the various kinds of Illustration. THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES GENERAL INTRODUCTION— PAINTING AND DRAWING We know that a fine picture cannot be described. Words tell us of the masterly way in which the subject is presented, the dexterity of the workmanship, and the excellence of the colour and drawing ; but these things, when enumerated, leave us cold and uninterested, while any attempts to resurrect the feelings of the painter while engaged on his task lead us to boredom. The emotion aroused by a grand picture may be somewhat closely reproduced by a fine prose essay, by poetry, music, or by a mood in nature herself. The higher appeal in it comes through the intuition of the artist — Non vi non dolo ssd dono — the unconscious effort unacquired. The essentials for any fine work are intuition combined with a highly developed power of expression. But there is an intuition that in a lesser form is given to many. I think we know it as " taste," and this taste or good feeling which starts with a leaning to that which is best, or from a certain sympathy witb nature, can be guided and improved simultaneously with the acquiring of the craftsmanship of painting. There are many possessing this taste or talent who might gain a keener enjoyment if they realised that, by training, it could be converted into a means of expression. There are others, lacking taste, who make unfortunate excursions into painting as an accomplishment. Their performance, instead of being an offence, might, if they studied appearances sincerely, be of use, and at the same time be not unpleasing. Most people can be taught to draw with fair accuracy and to acquire some degree of competency in painting. Our natural desire to imitate form should be accepted as words are, merely as another method of description. In our education drawing and writing should go hand in hand. If drawing were universal, people would not confuse, as they now 17 b 18 GENERAL INTRODUCTION do, mere copies of nature with works of art ; but would frankly acknow- ledge the former as records, and judge them by the amount of interesting information they convey. A letter is useful as transmitting informa- tion, and a drawing can be the same. If your letter is nicely worded and your drawing shows taste they begin to appeal to another sense, and we say they have " style." If your intention is grand and is expressed in fine language, and your drawing conveys a grand im- pression, we honour them as works of art. Landscape painting is, I fancy, but little understood even amongst the educated. It does not surprise one that the yokel should eye a painting as a coloured topo- graphical inventory of his countryside and praise the performance in proportion as room is found for every well-known object, each exactly where it should be. I know a farmer much perplexed because a paint- ing of his farm was sold for a larger sum of money than the farm itself soon after realised, and this though the pond, old theds, and the very ducks themselves were included. He wonders yet at the stupidity of the picture-buyer, who, by a less expenditure, could have sat by the real pond and gazed daily at his farm. Much the same attitude is assumed by the better educated when they ask, " How do you find such a beautiful place, and was it exactly like that ? " You must say it was identical, blade for blade and leaf for leaf, or your reputation as an honest man is lost. But one must not be over critical, for I have not forgotten my disgust as a boy on discovering a certain dirty ditch which had served as the foundation for a fine picture I had previously S2en. Latterly, people have been reading strangely involved writings on art and ignorant criticisms of pictures. This, and their visits to some new exhibitions of canvases daubed by people of weak intellect, have led them to believe that all representations of nature as we know and love her are wrong, and they are persuaded to profess admiration only for that which no one can understand. If we consider some of the aims that every true artist owns, we may gain a more tolerant atti- tude towards his work, even though it does not conform to our pre- conceived notions of what a picture should be like ; it may help us to appreciate many of the different forms in which good art is presented to us, and to weed out work of ability that perhaps is not immediately understood from that which is claptrap. Since an artist appeals to the intelligence and to the emotions, his work can only give real pleasure to those in whom it arouses a con- sciousness of beauty similar to his own perception. For this reason a picture may give intense pleasure to some, while others are unable to receive the meaning, and, for want of understanding, are apt to dub it PAINTING AND DRAWING 19 a worthless performance. The feeling for beauty * in its best sense is conveyed in so many ways — by colour, by light and shade, by line, by pattern, and by technique ; and any or all of these become the visible means for explaining the deeper feelings that influence the painter. One, or a combination of these, cannot attract everyone equally, but only those whose perceptions are most keenly excited by the particular means selected. Even to those means to which we are less sensitive we can give credit, if not love, if they are well em- ployed. Of the various means at the disposal of a painter, colour seems to have the greatest power of attraction. As children we are interested by colours rather than by forms, and we retain this impulse throughout life — only we temper it by a new desire for a pleasing arrangement of colours. Our instinct for colour becomes acuter, even though we have learned to see the dignity in masses of light and shade, or to appreciat3 the rendering or suggestion of form by lines. I fancy our minds are interested in form, but our nature is excited by colour. How few people, however, really appreciate good colour ! The majority are content with any colour, so long as a picture resembles the obvious in nature or tells a tale ; and for this they can even tolerate colours that are lifeless or discordant. Colour seems so much more elusive than form. Fine colour can only be felt, though fine shape can be described. Aitists are conscious of very definite laws that govern good colouring, and yet colour is so subtle that the introduction of a new element upsets any scheme, and nearly every picture presents a new colour problem. The sense of mastery over fine colour seems to come to the painter last of all and to leave him at the first note of failing powers. How much its elusive charm is connected with the technique of paint- ing will be felt by everyone who has used oil colours. In water colours there is less excuse for bad colouring. If the scheme is a sound one, plain washes of colour can be relied upon by their transparency for a pleasing effect, though identical colours in oils would require very deft management to prevent their becoming repulsive. Those who have not practised painting use the term " A good eye for colour," meaning that we are born with this as an unalterable gift. We must' grant that there is a considerable difference in the acuteness of percep- tion for colour amongst youngsters, just as there is a quick or slow recognition of form ; but the science of colour must be studied with even greater zeal than drawing, if a student is the least bit ambitious of fame. It would be interesting to know in what degree the difference 1 The word " beauty" is not used in this book in the same sense as "prettj." 20 GENERAL INTRODUCTION in appreciation of colour is due to physical causes. Simple colours have so different an effect upon people. One man I know must laugh with the exuberance of his joy — he cannot help it — when he passes a field of poppies blazing in the sun ; to another it simply gives a headache. We all know that in bad health we can only bear the sight of the most subdued and cleanest of single tints, when at other times we may delight in mixed colours of oriental splendour. In a picture light and shade is as important as colour in awakening our consciousness to that which is grand. The power of attraction (and it is boundless) in finely spaced quantities of light and dark is to me inexplicable ; perhaps it can be explained by the sense of bulk and mystery that they convey. On first seeing a picture by Rembrandt (or better still for this purpose a good black and white reproduction) it is the effect of light and shade that makes us catch our breath in the sudden revelation of beauty long before our minds have had time to take the meaning. A simple experiment will convince you how much a picture depends for dignity upon the distribution of light and dark. Take a few commonplace objects of everyday life and arrange them exactly in the lighting of some well-known picture, in looking at which you had taken for granted that its interest lay in its subject. If you now sketch these in masses of light and dark, with your eyes somewhat closed to exclude petty details, you will find these objects acquiring an interest, and even a dignity, previously unassociated with them. If you can add to your black and white sketch a good colour arrange- ment, you surprise yourself into the knowledge that all objects are worthy of pictorial treatment ; and the greater doubt is born whether all people are worthy to treat them. For an artist, everything is capable of being used as a theme — an outlet for his joy in living and seeing — and his pictures are but expres- sions of his own moods conveyed to us through the things he repre- sents. For his purpose he has no better agents than colour and this spacing of light and shade. Drawing that does not include colour can be divided into (1) draw- ing by masses, (2) drawing by lines. It would be foolish to attempt rigid distinctions ; but usually we find that mass drawing appeals to the deeper emotions and line drawing to the intellectual senses. This may be caused by the association and suggestion of colour that is inseparable from drawing in mass. In mass drawing, light and shade, texture and form of objects, their colour and influence on one another, all play their part. It is the orchestration in black and white art, while other branches serve as PAINTING AND DRAWING 21 single instruments. Drawing in lines is for the most part used for two very different purposes — (1) as a hasty record of action or construction (also as a basis in the composing of a picture) ; (2) as a completed picture within the limitations of black and white. As an expression of action it is unrivalled. Single lines compel our undivided attention, and we feel the rhythm of the line and enter into the action of the scene immediately. The fewer the lines, the more powerfully our interest is focussed. How intensely interesting are the hurried notes of a painter showing us the essential lines and what they conveyed to him, or the completed study that we delight in, such as a Caldecott drawing and the drawings of many fine draughtsmen who have made Punch almost a necessity for us ! As a basis of a picture lines serve as a backbone, strengthening and connecting separate objects. The building up of a picture by lines rectrains an impulsive love for colour and effect, which by themselves might make our work (though beautiful) quite unintelligible. The second type of line drawing — I mean the one giving a completed rendering of form as well as the light and shade, which may, or may not suggest the colour of objects — is I think the least emotional of all art expressions. Having little of the dash or grand isolation of single lines, it exacts from us a more prolonged mental effort ; it has to be read, as it were, to be fully appreciated. Its charm is not spontaneous ; we read it and read it again, each time discovering a new pleasure in the evidence of searching inquiry by the painter, and recognising the mastery over materials that can bring scenes of life to us with such elemental tools as pen and paper. The use of pattern or design is, in the minds of many, associated only with its application to work that is purely decorative. In this service we should expect it to be better appreciated than some other forms of art, for is it not a daily rule of our life to demand some order and arrangement in everything about us ? Our gardens, houses, furniture, and trappings of the room have to conform to laws of decoration, and we are familiar with, if not expert, at such making of order. Fewer people, however, understand that design is the main basis of all pictorial art ; while others concede this to figure painting, but have not considered it in relation to landscape work. It is just this feeling for decorative design that always distinguishes the work of an artist from the mechanical imitator of nature. The side issues of whether much or little detail should be included in a landscape, or whether it should be highly realistic or not, are legitimate paths of divergence, and matters to be settled by the temperament of the painter, 22 GENERAL INTRODUCTION or the exigencies of the particular subject ; but whichever path he follows, his work, if it is to be art at all, must be moulded on and regu- lated by design. This is not an attempt to justify paintings where decoration is obtained at the expense of nature ; we have but to refer to nature herself to satisfy our desire for pattern — it is everywhere. Sky, trees, earth, and water teem with it ; our difficulty lies in selecting and making the whole scene a decoration, giving each part pattern without distortion and without mauling the face of nature. Worship of nature, together with enthusiasm for art, are our only guides, but the love of truth should help to check excesses. This is a most inadequate sketch of the main features that we look for in landscape art. The use of colour, light and shade, line and pattern have been touched upon, and I have intentionally placed technique last in the list of those means by which a painter can bring home to others some of the power in nature that he worships. I have placed it last, as no one possessing that reverence for nature which should be the mainspring in our desire to paint, could be content to represent her except in the best possible way of which he is capable. His self-esteem as a craftsman goads him on to overcome the difficulties in handling his tools. There is a fascination in the technical side of his art that enables a man to bring his work to completion. Without it he would stop short so soon as the excitement he experienced on first tackling his subject had subsided ; and our picture galleries would be full of sketches. So engrossing is this wish to do things well that a painter in spare moments may be found exercising his ability upon the most ordinary objects, and the world is enriched by beautiful renderings of these. A young student, but newly conscious of the difficulty in technique, is apt to become enamoured of work which displays a super- ficial dexterity. It is fortunate for him if he fails to acquire it, or it is likely before long to become his master instead of his servant. But I cannot resist here quoting at some length what Sir Joshua Reynolds has said : " A lively and what is called a masterly handling of the chalk or pencil,1 are, it must be confessed, captivating qualities to young minds, and become of course the objects of their ambition. They endeavour to imitate these dazzling excellencies which they will find no great labour in attaining. After much time spent in these frivolous pursuits the difficulty will be to retreat ; but it will then be too late ; and there is scarce an instance of return to scrupulous labour, after the mind has been debauched and deceived by this fallacious mastery. By this 1 He uses the word pencil where we now say brushes. PAINTING AND DRAWING 23 useless industry they are excluded from all power of advancing in real excellence. Whilst boys, they are arrived at their utmost perfection ; they have taken the shadow for the substance, and they make the mechanical felicity the chief excellence of the art, which is only an ornament, and of the merit of which few painters themselves are judges. . . . But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on one hand, but also their natural sloth tempting them on the other. They are terrified at the prospect before them, of the toil required to attain exactness. The impetuosity of youth is disgusted at the slow approaches of a regular siege, and desires from mere impatience of labour to take the citadel by storm. They wish to find some shorter path to excellence, and hope to obtain the reward of eminence by other means than those which the indispensable rules of art have prescribed. They must therefore be told again and again that labour is the only price of solid fame, and that whatever their force of genius may be, there is no easy method of becoming a good Painter." These were the words Reynolds used in 1769 in his address to the students of the Royal Academy. I doubt if any President could do better than repeat them to the present-day student. It seems at first sight as if in these notes I had excluded the chief weapon of art — Composition ; but the word composition is likely to be misunderstood as applying to some worn-out conventions of pretti- ness instead of being understood as it should be — to mean arrangement. Composition, then, means arrangement of colour, of light and shade, of individual objects and the arrangement of each separate part, so that, though retaining interest of its own it is still subservient to the main scheme on which the picture is planned. Selection and arrangement are the life-blood of a picture. Anyone who neglects them is no artist. No artist could neglect them. My intention thus far has been to combat the too prevalent idea that any pleasing subject in landscape, if exactly copied, will make a good picture. A mean copy of form and colour that misses the essence of the scene is less interesting than a photograph, for the lens gives more form and detail, and you are dull if you cannot find something in the photograph to think about, but the lens does not give us art. A simple copy of a scene, if it is done with correctness, may by chance recall some associations of nature that will be supplied by those who will see the study ; but it is the business of the artist to give pleasure and to instruct, and not to rely upon the more subtle perceptions of others. 24 GENERAL INTRODUCTION A painter should be able to make a good picture of any subject, but it is done, not by a literal statement of formations, but by work which shows his appreciation of the nature of the scene — its dignity, or repose, the desolation of it, or its association with human beings. Perhaps its individuality must be insisted upon ; or lost in a larger idea that is suggested by a mood of nature, the heat of the day, the softness of the spring air, or the gales of autumn. The difference between the exactly copied landscape that shows no appreciation and one that has a meaning to back it, is the same as between a guide-book and a Walter Scott novel. There is no need to force a pretended significance of something that is absent, or to presume any drastic alterations. It is better that you should try and see how much good is there ; and by seeing it you will almost unconsciously em- phasize it, and by a legitimate exaggeration influence others to see it also. To sum up these notes then, a landscape picture must be a decora- tion for a wall, its colours arranged on a harmonious scheme and applied with surfaces of pleasing qualities, its pattern of light and dark a grand one. The individual parts must be interesting each in its place, and must help to build up the beauty of the whole. Above all, the senti- ment must be strongly stamped upon it. This is the picture an artist aims for, and his aim being high, if he fails there will still remain something beyond the commonplace in his work. The means he uses have been touched upon chiefly in the hope that some of the time spent on the neatness of pretty sketches may be devoted to thought and higher ideals. Those who are not in the profession may retort that they are not giving up their lives to painting, and if such excellencies are demanded they would be debarred from an engaging pastime. This need not be so, for sketches, however slight, if they show some insight into nature, and the aim of the performer has been consistently adhered to, are worthy of respect, and the more successful of these will give great pleasure. Turning from picture -making to work that is frankly a record of things seen and understood, we come to a branch of art inseparable from education. While looking at a photograph we learn just that much which we should have learned by looking at the object itself, though perhaps in a more convenient form. If we examine a drawing we see the object itself through the brain of the draughtsman. His knowledge has already emphasized the important points for study by a previous separation of the trivia) ancj PAINTING AND DRAWING 25 accidental from the essential form belonging to the type. We make use of his brain, in addition to our own, and when we refer to the object again we can add new knowledge with greater ease. There is also a charm in such drawings that comes from their appreciation of truth and beauty. It is the idea suggested by nature and art that an artist has to pamt ; an intelligently truthful copy of selected parts of nature enables him to do so. PART I TREES CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO PAINTING CHAPTEE I THE PAINTING OF TREES ILLUSTRATED BY A CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF PICTURES, WITH SOME DESCRIPTIVE NOTES Theodore Kousseau was able, in the painting of a single tree, to impress us with the greatness of nature — with her very soul, if one may use the expression. In looking at his tree we are not disturbed by wondering whether it is an Oak or an Ash or botanically correct. We are content to look at it and come away, feeling that we have seen some- thing grand and without a wish to analyse it. Sometimes out of doors we may see a tree which will excite the same feeling ; but genius is given to few, and any attempt to depict on canvas the feeling we experience, unless it is backed up by a knowledge of construction, results in flabbi- ness — as is too often seen in the imitators of Corot. We cannot see with other men's eyes, but we can study what they look for. By some our tree will be shown to us as a mere outline, but even that alone can express the severity or rhythm of its lines — lines that would give us pleasure in anything, but here give us the grace, dignity, or strength, as it may be, of the particular tree. Others will wish us to appreciate the tree as a bulk, and will accentuate its statuesque quality in which all details are submerged. Others, again, will find out wonderful shapes, and through them will appeal to our love of pattern, successfully as they extract its complete structure and intricacy of detail. Constable painted his leaves with the real light of the sky upon them, and they had a rugged homeliness about them free from all con- vention. Turner, with a larger view, and strengthened with his absolute knowledge of their construction, used trees at will, weaving magnificent compositions with them as in his " Cephalus and Procris " and " Near Blair Athol " of the Liber Studiorum (Plate II). He utilised them for every device at the command of art ; in one place as bits of light or dark, in another as links between single forms ; here as a piece of delicate leaf tracery like lace work seen against the sky, there as massed spaces 29 ^"te* (1) ( Photo ManSi Illus. 1. Photographs from Portions of the Pictures (1) Virgin and Child and the Infant St. John— Fra Bartolomeo (2) L'Annunziazione— Botticelli (3) Venus and Cupids— Sellaio THE PAINTING OF TREES 31 of heavy foliage leading into the gloom. Sometimes his tree was a portrait, at others a specimen of the type — often a type evolved from many species — simply a tree — but nevertheless a possible tree. Whether it was the subtle undulations of the foliage or the severity of the lines of the trunks, he had a use for them. To him nothing came amiss ; his sunlight shimmered on the leaves or poured through them in broad shafts of light ; - his branches stretched out from the trunk mixing in the blue of the sky : no detail was too trivial to make note of, not even the seams or the roughness of the bark or the single leaves and twigs that he drew so well.1 From Titian and Pa- tinier, the Fathers of landscape painting, to Cecil Lawson, we recall the names of those who have treated trees each in his own individual way. Titian, Giorgione, Rubens, Claude, Rem- brandt, Poussin, Salva- tor Rosa, Hobbema, Wilson, Gainsborough, Crome, Girtin, Turner, Constable, Cotman, Cox, Corot, Creswick, Diaz, Troy on, Miiller, Rous- seau, Daubigny, Monti- celli, Cecil Lawson. To discuss adequately their points of view and their methods would require another book by another pen, but just to name them seems to brighten our minds and stir us to effort. But our list should start with the Primitive Italians with their precise and delightful little trees painted in such an ingenuous way 1 Turner's delicate drawings of still life on a minute scale that have been brought to light recently seem to have astonished some people who had over- looked his refined vignettes for book illustration. Illus. 2. A Sketch of some Young Trees Notice the likeness between the one on the left and Botticelli's tree 32 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES with an infinite loving care. Their desire for an art, as something separate and different from ordinary life, seems to have guided then, in the selection of just those trees that would satisfy it completely. Their trees were not, as some suppose, thought out formally, but were truthful copies of such as we find in our own copses to-day in the young trees that have been spared after the cropping of the underwood. Here are three of them sketched the other day — just such as migh have been taken as models in the fifteenth century, when they woula have been beautifully painted ; leaf after leaf standing out dark against a sweet clear sky. Their appreciation of delicacy, and the nice dis- position of the little blocks of foliage up the stem might well be followed, instead of the formality in untruthful ugliness that is conjured up by some of our illustrators to-day. Another form is a compact and, dense little tree covered with separate leaves as in the background of " The Virgin adoring the Infant Christ " by Lorenzo di Credi (Illus. 3). They are delightful, though in truth they resemble shrubs. These are the chief forms of trees that are associated with the paintings of that period, but that other aspects were also used then is evident from Giovanni Bellini's painting of a wood in the picture, " The Death of St. Peter, Martyr." The same exactness in copying the leaves is there, but the wood has depth, and the trunks give out branches on all sides, some towards us, others receding into the wood. The sanr veneration of nature even in her details is shown in the realistic paint- ing of a lemon tree in the picture, " The Madonna, Infant Christ, and St. Anne," by Girolamo dai Libri, in the National Gallery. The work of some painters becomes more interesting if we re member when it was that they lived. Here is a list of those we mention : A List of Artists Mentioned in the text Full Name in Giovanni Bellini .... .Tacopo del Sellaio .... Lorenzo di Andrea d'Oderigo Credi Bartolomeo di Pagholo del Fattorino Popular Name Bellini . Sellaio . Credi Fra Bartolomeo . Girolamo dai Libri Giorgione (also called Barbarelli del Castel-Franco) . Titian . . . Tiziano Vecellio .... Franciabigio (also known as Francesco or Francia Bigio Francesco di Christofano Patinier . . . Joachim Patinier . Carracci . . Annibale Carracci . Rubens . . . Sir Peter Paul Rubens Guercino . . Giovanni Francesco Barbieri Poussin . . . Nicolas Poussin Claude Lorrain . Claude Gellee Neer . . . Aart van der Neer Rembrandt . . Rembrandt Harmensz van Ryn Both . . . Jan (or Johannes) Both Nation It., Ven. It., Flor. It,. Flor. It., Flor. It., Verona It., Ven. It., Ven. It., Flor. Dutch It,, Bolog. Flemish It., Bolog. French French Dutch Dutch Dutch Date *1428-1516 1446-1493 1457-1537 1472-1517 1475-1546 1477-1510 *1477-1576 1482-1524 1485-1525 *1560-1609 1577-1640 1591-1666 1594-1665 1600-1682 1603-1677 1606-1669 *1610-1652 - E, . 4BM . - k w Jm m k| H k^ -utfi Illus. 3. Trees in " The Virgin Adoring the -Infant Christ, by Credi c U THE AUTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES ' A Ltst of Aktists Mentioned in the text — (continued. ) Popular Name Name in Full Nation Date Poussin . Gaspard Dughet French 1613-1675 Kosa Salvatore Rosa It. Neap. 1615-1673 Bourdon . Sebastien Bourdon .... French 1616-1671 Wynants Jan Wynants Dutch *1620-1682 Pynacker Adam Pynacker Dutch 1622-1673 Ruysdael Jacob van Ruisdael .... Dutch *1628-1682 Hobbema Meindert Hobbema .... Dutch 1638-1709 Watteau Antoine Watteau .... French 1684-1721 Pater Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Pater French 1696-1736 Boucher . Francois Boucher French 1703-1770 Wilson . . Richard Wilson, R.A English 1714-1782 Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. English 1727-1788 Fragonard Jean Honore Fragonard French 1732-1806 Crome("0]d") John Crome English 1768-1821 Girtin Thomas Girtin English 1773-1802 Turner . Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. English 1775-1851 Constable John Constable, R.A English 1776-1837 Cotman . John Sell Cotman English 1782-1842 Cox David Cox English 1783-1859 De Wint Peter De Wint English 1784-1849 Nasmyth Patrick Nasmyth Scotch 1787-1831 Linnell . John Linnell English 1792-1882 Corot Jean Baptiste Camille Corot French 1796-1875 Diaz Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Pena French 1808-1876 Troy on . Constant Troy on French 1810-1865 Creswick Thomas Creswick, R.A. English . 1811-1869 Muller . William John Muller .... English 1812-1845 Dupre Jules Dupre ...... French 1812-1889 Rousseau Pierre Etienne Theodore Rousseau . French 1812-1867 Daubigny Charles Francois Daubigny French 1817-1878 Monticelli Adolphe Monticelli .... French 1824-1886 Foster . Myles Birket Foster, R.W.S. English 1825-1899 Haden . Sir Francis Seymour Haden, P.R.E. . English 1818-1910 Millais . Sir John Everett Millais, Bart., P.R.A. English 1829-1896 Leighton (Frederic j) Lord Leighton, P.R.A. English 1830-1896 Cole George Vicat Cole, R.A. English 1833-1893 Walker . Frederick Walker, A.R.A. . English 1840-1875 East Sir Alfred East, R.A., T.R.B.A. English 1849-1913 Lawson . Cecil Lawson English 1851-1882 Forbes . Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, A.R.W.S. English 1859-1912 Pickering J. L. Pickering, R.O.I., R.B.A. . English 1912 Birch . S. J. Lamorna Birch, A.R.W.S. English Brickdale Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale, A.R.W.S. English Cowper . F. Cadogan Cowper, A.R.A., R.W.S. . English Clausen . George Clausen, R.A., R.W.S. . H. W. B. Davis, R.A English Davis English Fisher . Mark Fisher, A.R.A English Hall Oliver Hall, R.E English Harpignies Henri Harpignies French Monet Claude Monet French Murray . DavidMurray,R.A.,A.R.S.A.,A.R,W.S . English Parsons Alfred Parsons, R.A., P.R.W.S. . English Raekham Arthur Raekham English Stanton . H. Hughes Stanton, A.R.A. English Stokes . Adrian Stokes, A.R.A. English Shaw . Byam Shaw, A.R.W.S. English Steer P. Wilson Steer * Dates uncertain. English Plate III Photo Anderson Judgment of Solomon. Giorgione (Ufftzi Gallery) o GO all Plate XIV Landscape with Animals. Adam Pynacker (Wallace Collection) THE PAINTING OF TREES 35 With Titian and Giorgione (1477) (Plate III), began the modern view of landscape — massed trees rounded and lit by the sky, the formation of land shown by shadows, sprays, and trunks introduced into the foreground, and detail lost and found, just as we think of it now. Was not Kubens (a hundred years later) one of the first of the figure painters to paint pure landscape (Plate IV) as well as to use it as a background ? His study of the " Boar Hunt " in the British Museum is marvellously expressive ; it should be noticed how he uses the fulness of the contours on the fallen trunk to explain its foreshortening ; how dexterous is his use of shadows on the upright stem, and how extreme his accuracy in the branch formations, and in the emphasis and loss of line on the stem. The drawing is full of facts and is minutely copied, yet it expresses the greatest energy and life. Twenty years later Nicolas Poussin, the great Frenchman, was painting his romantic scenes. We must take his trees as belonging to his subject if we are to enjoy them ; they do not bear peering into as literal statements ; nor can I think that his selection of the smaller forms shows the judgment and in- stinct for the beautiful displayed by Claude a few years later (Illus. 4). There is no need to look for some- thing to displease one (how Euskin hurts us at times by doing so), and there is nothing to criticise in Claude and but little in Poussin, but everything to admire, if we enter into the bigness of the view as they did and as they intended us to do. Claude was the first painter to show the grandeur of trees ; in his pictures, by their height and dignity, they commanded the landscape ; by their fulness and exquisite design, they created a setting of richness and romance that not even the artificiality of his ruins and palaces could destroy (Plate VI, Illus. 4, 5). Claude and Turner are set apart from all other landscape painters by their genius endowing them with an understanding of nature in her deepest and most varied moods. Claude, in his pictures such as " The Flight into Egypt," " Egeria and Illus. 4. Sepia Study by Claude, in the British Museum 36 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES her Nymphs," and " Landscape with Figures " (Illus. 5) (Dresden Gallery), has designed trees of simple and noble proportions that essentially belong to the tranquility of the scenes. In the " Village Dance " (Louvre) he makes use of another type full of busy forms that would be disquieting were it not for the dancers underneath them, while in his etching, "Dance under the Trees," there is a lightness and movement in the stems and foliage that we are unaccustomed to in his Illus. 5. A Drawing by Claude, in the British Museum paintings His drawings 1 (in the British Museum) reveal his great and varied sense of composition and an intense love of nature ; they and his pictures record his mastery in drawing trees. How grandly — but with what an individual view — landscape was treated at this same time, by the Frenchman Nicholas Poussin and "Le Guaspre" (Plate VII), by Bourdon, and Claude (1600-1682) ; by the Italians Salvator Rosa (Plate IX) and Guercino (Plate V) ; by the Dutch Van der Neer, Rembrandt, and Jan Both ; and a few years later by Wynants, Pynacker, and Hobbema (1638-1709). We place their 1 A little book at the modest price of 6d. is published by Gowans & Gray, containing sixty photographic reproductions of these drawings. Plate XV I. Les Champs-Elysees. Antoine Watte au II. Fete in a Paek. Jean Baptiste Joseph Pater (Wallace Collection) j*r Plate XVIII Photo Vansell The Market Cart. Gainseorough (National Gallery) £fia^k)> IP Si fc 3 t^fef ifE*. k* 'TTMi^BB 1** * | . f ^ Tb\< -* ■p^^b . "^^^^ ^ 1 1 Plate XIX P/ioifo Mansell The Porringland Oak. John Crome (National Gallery) Plate XXI Photo Man sell The Valley Farm. John Constable, r.a. (National Gallery) ;• 1,'' r^- .fc< >'3 w^mm^m, ' :1K • mw* W^f 1 « JL.'^»..Jr ■ a.' * r^^«v -jk //> ' >i^:. ?t{^ E& ?«l •tv" F*VVU n w.> »■«*»? ••/■%-*- / j ■^^^^^ i _ * ■n •*' * 1 * ,Vw&/' ,'i 1 ' j ^ jflBH ft l n ■7*81 tfi •fl I ■Bt Ml' ''I 4 T| * *y fl 1 ' 1 V 1 •f ■kJ) *vf 1 ■ i 'ri;fl Kb/ P J- Ai >/M ■ 1 1 Mr L 11 Hi Of :!tWj RV ;:V. ^t ^.33 v fgHvf '■<5* • 1 ^ mTO * Mfc' EMf* /JA\ ^ *-'TO ' I^BQD W, W JP 1 I Wliiiii ffi'jf W#£ y X H U - o o THE PAINTING OF TREES 37 names together as an aid in remembering when they lived, the giants to whom we pay homage — Claude, the Poussins, Rembrandt, and Hobbema, with the lesser men whom we should nevertheless study and respect. Gaspard Poussin shares with his brother-in-law and master Nicholas that great view of nature that sees romance and not merely botanical facts in trees. Rembrandt's trees * are chiefly known in England by his grand etchings in the British Museum. The picture " Tobit and the Angel " (Plate VIII) was, I think, formerly attributed to him, though now catalogued under " school of Rembrandt." It is instructive to compare it side by side with Salvator's version of the same subject. In the former there is an unaffected simplicity and peace secured by the quiet massive shapes of the trees, the ground, and the pose of the guiding angel. Salvator's picture is the very essence of hustle caused by the tortuous shapes of trees, sky, and rocks. Each line conveys the greatest sense of energy and disturbance, and all add in the making of a fantasy as far remote from quiet everyday scenes as the other picture is in complete agreement with them. Bourdon's imaginative picture, " The Return of the Ark " (Plate X), is composed of as many upright and level lines as Salvator's picture has twisted ones ; the vertical tree trunks contribute largely to the austere effect. Sir Joshua, in his lectures, cited this picture as an example of poetry in landscape. Van der Neer studied his trees with discerning observation and sym- pathy. In his poetic river scene (Plate XII) (No. 152, National Gallery) the trees are conspicuous for the varied treatment of their outlines and definition ; the boughs are full of incidence. Compared with his trees those of Jan Wynants seem lifeless and somewhat mechanical, though not tainted with the excessively laboured detail shown by Ruisdael. Jan Both (Plate XI) made his trees elegant, and they belong to a pleasing Arcadia quite his own. If their foliage is somewhat flimsy from a want of construction, they are always free from being matter- of-fact. In Both's etchings his fancy seems to tell with greater force, and his tree tops are less given to straying. Poussin, Claude, and Rembrandt took a large view of trees; Hobbema saw them in detail, but his elaboration was subservient to the motif and quaintness of the scene, and was uplifted from mechanical device by his fidelity and veneration (Plate XIII). Ruisdael — judging from the number of examples in the National 1 There is a landscape by Rembrandt in the Wallace Collection and another ' Diana bathing " in the National Gallery, but trees do not occupy an important position in either of them. 38 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Gallery — is considered also great, but to rne his elaboration is unredeemed by the genius of Hobbema : however, I am not a connoisseur. The picture by Adam Pynacker, of which we give an illustra- tion (Plate XIV), is in the Wallace Collection. It is interesting for his close view of the trunks and for the strong effect of sunlight that was characteristic of his work. There is another example in the same collection, but he is not represented in the National Gallery. Figure students would be well advised to study the relation trees bear as backgrounds to figures ; and such a study might begin with Watteau and his pupil and imitator, Jean Baptiste Pater. The ex- amples of their work reproduced here side by side show clearly how the elegance of the figures is echoed in the trees, and the important part the latter play in the distribution of the light and shade. You will notice that the dark and light groups of figures are repeated by the corresponding darks of the trees and light patches of the sky. By this arrangement the principal figures, though they occupy only one- third of the height of the canvas, are not dwarfed by the foliage above them. Fragonard, in " The Swing," allots less than half the height of the canvas to the figures of the swinging girl and the man at her feet. He gives to the bough above them the suggestion of movement. Wat- teau invariably made his trees as dainty as his figures, and there was no break in the continuity of the scheme (Plate XV). We see a cor- responding relationship between figures and their surroundings in the decorations by Boucher. Millais made a similar use of the severe lines of the Lombardy Poplars in his " Vale of Pest." In 1714 was born Richard Wilson, a " chiel amang chiels," and the first of the great Fmglish landscape painters — well worthy to take his place after Claude, with the same large view of nature and a lovely quality of paint (Plate XVI). A few years after his death came Gainsborough, in some of whose pictures the fronded trees seem as a new creation — not literal enough to be labelled, yet compelling us to feel and enter into the homely romance or solemnity of his scene. But not always so, for his oaks in the "Village of Cornard " (Plate XVII), painted when he was but twenty-six years old, are as literally accurate as his later trees were romantic. I doubt if trees have ever been made more impressive than in his picture, " The Watering Place." dome, the founder of the Norwich School, was about twenty years old when Gainsborough died. He and Cotman often painted pictures for the sake of the trees alone, and their work is distinguished by a simplicity and a big decorative conception of nature ; theirs was the decoration existing in nature generally, not the flat pattern of the modern decorator (Plate XIX). Plate XXVIII Photo Mansell The Pathway to the Village Church Thomas Creswick, r.a. (Tate Gallery) THE PAINTING OF TREES 39 Champions of landscape came in quick succession. From 1714 (Wilson) to 1792 we have Gainsborough, Crome, Girtin, Turner, Con- stable, Cotman, De Wint, Cox, Nasmyth, and Linnell. Among these we have spoken of Turner ; Girtin, even with his few years of life, may almost be classed with him. With Constable began the open-air pictures and the faithful study of nature by men who painted the things around them without affecta- tion. He had no fear in presenting nature in her own colours ; and his adoration of the homely English scenery is seen in everything he did. " I love every stile, and stump, and lane in the village ; as long as I am able to hold a brush I shall never cease to paint them." His trees were not painted to convey an outside meaning, but because he loved each one of them. He had no use for a set type of tree ; he wanted each one, from the humble Elder bush that holds a conspicuous place in his " Hay Wain," to the towering trees in the " Valley Farm " * (Plate XXI). His was the inspiration that guided the judgment of the French Romanticists. David Cox saw the freshness of the land and liked trees best when swaying to the wind ; in depicting their movement he has never been surpassed. Nasmyth, the first of the Scotch landscapists, followed Hobbema in his love for detail. Linnell could choose a picture from the heart of the forest, and his oaks, felled trees, and woodmen make up a typical English wood and scene. It is difficult to believe that Creswick completely understood the structure of a tree, but we cannot deny that in many of his pictures they have the power to charm (Plate XXVIII, p. 39). Miiller, who was only thirty -three when he died, painted the " Eel bucks at Goring," and if he had lived for Constable's sixty-one years, might have outrivalled him in dash and brilliancy. From 1796 to 1834 were born the great men forming the French romantic school headed by Corot and ended by Monticelli — men who, like Crome and Cotman, painted trees for their own sake, not as in- cidents in a picture. Corot painted the poetry of atmosphere and discovered pathos in the Willow. He had an exquisite appreciation of the subtle undulations in lines. Diaz could make a few trees the centre and the beginning and the end of a picture that holds our undivided attention (Plate XXIV). Good landscapes did not end with Linnell (Plate XXII) and Monticelli. Cecil Lawson was inspired by the true love of nature, and viewed her in a big way ; his art was convincing 1 Students should examine his elaborate and accurate studies of trees in the Victoria and Albert Museum. These pencil drawings of form, seen side by side with the dashing sketch of the "Jumping Horse." show the two phases that are characteristic of a great artist. 40 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES THE PAINTING OF TREES 41 and refined (Illus. 6). With him lived a set of painters distinguished by their love of nature and the picturesque. Selection of types was, with them, all important. My father, G. Vicat Cole, R.A., was con- spicuous for his loving fidelity to nature. His refined drawing exhibited a complete mastery of the forms of trees that he studied and loved so well (Illus. 7 ; Plate XXIX). No one can pass by that period without paying homage to the men Illus. 7. Pencil Study, by Vicat Cole, R.A. who made a reverential study of the smaller forms of nature. Millais, Fred Walker, and North proved the belief which Francois Millet held that all objects in nature, however insignificant, are worthy of the toil and talent of an artist. Millais found a meaning in the plants of the hedgerow and painted them with consummate skill. The trees of his later period were drawn with the confidence of a great artist, but do not show the temperament of the true landscape painter. His landscapes seem to me to be masterly studies of strips of country. Was it not that his joy in seeing the open country compelled him to paint them after the restraint of life in a town ? 42 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Fred Walker applied a fresh and searching vision to the objects he painted at close quarters. We have only to look at the Hazel bush in his " Spring " l to understand the link between his mind and nature. The exquisite refinement in the work of J. W. North came as a revelation of artistic discernment (Illus. 8, p. 43 ; Plate XXX). Leighton has left us some perfect pencil drawings of tree forms. Trees for book illustrations were drawn with all the feeling that typical English landscape inspires by Birket Foster (how my superior friends will raise their eyebrows !). His was not a conception of great aspects, but the sincerity and sympathy of his pictures separate them entirely from that which is vulgar or mean. Incidentally we can admire his skill in the grouping of children. We recognise in the etchings of Seymour Hayden his gift of planning impressive groups of trees. The beautiful pen and ink and " wash " illustrations of trees and plants by Alfred Parsons, like his water-colour studies, show a refined and gifted understanding of natural forms. Trees have never at one and the same time been better or worse painted than they are at the present day. The old masters were con- tent to treat them in a big way and to implicitly follow tradition. They painted one or two types of trees only. Some amongst the modern men draw every sort of tree, and how well and faithfully they do so is seen in the work of Adrian Stokes, Mark Fisher, Sir E. Waterlow (Plate XXXIII, p. 44), Hughes-Stanton, P. Wilson Steer, Arnesby Brown, Lamorna Birch, H. W. B. Davis, the late J. L. Pickering, and Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, amongst others. It is difficult to speak of contemporary painters without being considered a prig, but fine work of the present must be included with that of the past, and my admiration is not limited to the few names I choose. There is abundant evidence in our galleries of extensive study combined with a real appreciation of trees ; though unfortunately these examples hang side by side with pictures in which a conscious and forced straining for the grand effect has resulted in the utmost indifference to all that makes a tree a beautiful and a living thing. We appreciate in George Clausen's work that nicety of balance between the realism that is necessary to convey the artist's love of natural forms and the requirements of art that ennoble them (Plate XXXII). David Murray shows us the charm of rhythmic lines in stems and branches, and in Oliver Hall's work there is an educated sensitiveness and discrimination in the selection and following of lines — particularly in his etchings (Plate XXXIX). 1 In the Victoria and Albert Museum. Plate XXXII The Road. G. Clausen, r.a. THE PAINTING OF TREES 43 Alfred East made the pattern in trees his own ; they are set in an atmosphere of poetry, and we feel their dignity and reserve. Men, who find beauty even in the lowliest of Nature's handicraft — in the buds, and twigs, and forms of plants among other things — stand apart from the followers of the modern creed of ugliness, and we Illus. 8. Pen and Ink Study of Trees with Sun- light THROUGH THE FOLIAGE, BY J. W. NORTH, A.K.A., Sketched in 1855 are indebted to such painters as Cadogan Cowper, By am Shaw, and Eleanor Brickdale for their influence. With Arthur Rackham we enter into the world of Elves and Pixies suggested by the grotesque forms of the roots and saplings of the hedge- row. Of the work of the living French landscape painters I know too little ; 44 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES some evidently pamt their trees with care and fidelity ; others, in their search for means of expressing light and air, sacrifice all form for a galaxy of colour ; this is chiefly so amongst the followers of Monet. Despite the want of structure that immediately separates their painting from actuality, they often possess a charm, though there seems to me an anachronism in wishing to obtain in a picture the effect of real light on an impossible tree. If we no longer call it a tree, but just something surrounded by beautiful colour, we can enjoy the abstract charm that is inherent to colour without form. The fine work of Harpignies speaks for itself ; students should study it whenever they have the opportunity. A figure painter interests us in his figures by quite distinct methods. If he gives us a figure that is a searching portrait of an individual with its beauty and its blemishes, it excites our sympathy from being a part of the everyday life we share in common. We recognise the effect of toil, pleasure, or what not as something personal and intimate that we know of. Harold Speed, in his most interesting book on drawing,1 points out how well Degas could utilise this aspect, and many painters whom we know as realists have used its full power. But a painter dealing with some subjects must make sure we shall not think of his figures as individuals. Instead of being personal, his figures must convey a larger outside sentiment that we do not associate with a naturalistic study from one figure. A photograph of a woman's figure, however fine it were, would not represent Eve — we require something more abstract. Pictures by the early Italians, Fra Angelico and Botticelli, for example, owe much of their charm to the aloofness from personal life that the figures show. We have something of the same distinction in landscape. The painting of a tree may be such an appreciative bit of naturalism that we enter into its existence, as it were. We admire its vigour of life, are astounded at hs prodigal abundance of leaf and seed and the defiance of the laws of gravitation shown in those huge horizontal limbs. We recall its encounters with storms, sympathise with its fresh start in life, and marvel at the almost human ingenuity that its parts display while seeking light and air. I think this is how Nasmyth saw his oaks and wished us to see them. But there is the larger standpoint in which the tree does not interest us so pertinently for itself, but becomes a unit in the sentiment of the scene. Claude's trees seem to me so — just beautiful masses full of the atmosphere of the day. When we are with nature all formulas and precepts must be left behind. If we go out to paint in a set manner we are conscious of 1 The Practice and Theory of Drawing. Seeley. 10s. 6d. nett. THE PAINTING OF TREES 45 ourselves rather than of nature ; our picture will show that we are learned or ignorant, dexterous or clumsy, but it will not show that which should have incited us to paint it. Away from nature, we can reason where our art has failed, and apply those laws that have guided better men before us. Probably we shall evolve trees that retain the character of those we studied, but something from our general store of observation and appreciation will be added ; then they become our own ; we shall have found something in them that the casual observer missed, something that redeems them from the commonplace, and transmutes the commonplace into poetry. In quick studies painted outside there is a certain naive envelopment and " life " that is generally absent in the thought-out work of the studio. The very accidents of paint due to haste may become gems, and the sketch escape that dull correctness that suggests an intellectual outlook, but dried-up impulses on the part of the painter. But elaborate studies out of doors are also necessary ; unfortunately we experience a disappointment when painting them, that comes from a too conscien- tious effort to do justice to our trees. While studying the tree, piece by piece, we lose the feeling of greatness with which it first impressed us ; and the difficulty is to regain that environment without falling into slovenliness. If the type to which it belongs is familiar to us, we start our work with more confidence and freedom in the handling of our materials, and finish by retaining something of the spirit of it as a living tree. It is for this that a knowledge of construction is required, not for a display of learning by the accuracy with which we imitate its branches and leaves. But we cannot neglect branches and leaves ; their form and distribution, though individual, never departs entirely from the type of the species. The outlines of branches against the sky are not very troublesome to draw if care is expended on their construction and pattern ; but every- one knows how difficult it is to set them in their right relation to the sky. They seem distinct against it and yet they are enveloped by it. Against a very bright sky their edges become lost, consequently their thickness is reduced so much that the smaller ones appear as indistinct threads, and the twigs are but a film or are entirely lost. David Murray makes good use of this truth in his delicate lines of stems seen against the sky, in compositions where tree groups come near the centre of his picture (Plate XXXIV, p. 45). If the same space were occupied by harsh dark lines for twigs and sharp-edged branches, the sky would lose its light and be divided into spaces on either side of the trees, and the arrangement would be spoilt. Turner showed us the same appearance in the receding branches of his Italian Stone Pines (Plate XX), and applied the law (that slender forms seen against 46 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES the light appear more slender) to the rigging of ships seen against the sunset. There are little pictures of Mauve, with tree drawing of great daintiness obtained by the same means. Corot knew exactly where to lose and where to emphasize a form ; his paint is delightfully suave, and looks as if it cost him no effort. This has deceived his imi- tators who — shirking his experience of hard toil — have even tried to paint their oaks in a similar way, when they had but to refer to Crome for guidance in observation. It is the fashion to extol the Old Masters at the expense of modern men (it always has been — Goethe in the year seventeen hundred and something complained of it, and in 1770 Eeynolds mentions it ; and the sale prices of spurious, bad, and good pictures by the Old Masters to-day prove it) ; but I would suggest that those who paint should learn how to observe — by the study of other men's works, old masters or new — and it is with this object in view that I have chosen a few outstanding names amongst those who have shown us what a tree is like. CHAPTER II WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN TREES \ BALANCE — SLNGLE TREES — TREES SEEN N MASSES — TN GROUPS — COMPOSITION Balance. — We know how much a standing figure depends for its dignity upon its balance — how the relative position of the neck and feet is gauged by an imaginary vertical line. So it is with a tree ; in a well-poised trunk the larger limbs, and the foliage they carry, appear to be balanced without effort. When a vertical trunk bears limbs that spread equidistant on all sides, the balance is too obvious to require com- ment, unless we like to point to an upright Spruce, Cypress, or Lombardy Poplar as an JK M lta/i w£ ^1» ^^s Fig la Fig. 2 extreme example. The balance I wish to call attention to is when the trunk leans or curves, but still supports the weight of foliage and boughs directly over its base ; or when the deviation of the line is exces- sive in one direction (Fig. 2). We know that the roots of a tree ensure stability, so that the exact balance of the human figure is not essential, but " it requires an artful pencil," as Gilpin says, to draw possible lines in a leaning tree ; these should not suggest an imminent upheaval. On the other hand, one sometimes 47 48 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES comes across young trees nearly bowed to the ground, and they form * a charming feature of the woodlands when the copse has been cut. In these we recognise the suppleness of the slim stem, not a want of stability, as the cause for these graceful curves. Trees hanging over a bank would often appear unbalanced, if it were not for the projecting roots that grip the bank surface and reach down its face. We seem to be more assured if we can see the mechanism that ties to the ground any upright form that is out of the vertical. I wonder if, whilst standing under a builder's crane, we should not watch its evolu- tions with more pleasure if we could see some counteracting weight to balance the stone swing- ing overhead ? Often we see trees which seem not to have a true balance. To see them so in nature is one thing, to live with them in a picture is another — and undesirable. To give them an insecure appearance in our drawings, and to be unaware of having done so, is inexcusable. On sloping ground trunks often lean slightly to the high side and look best so. They suggest the nice " rake to aft " of a ship's mast. No fault p. can be found with those that are upright, but much with those that lean downhills, as Fig. 4 explains. We are fond of trees overhanging a path, and great use can be made of these in pictures. They do not appear to lack balance, which may be partly due to the fact that most of the heavy boughs spring from the upper side. In forests there are parts suggesting weird imaginings — trees half fallen lean against their fellows, crossing and interlacing, with snapped boughs hanging ; among them are young stems twisted and con- torted and intertwined by creepers ; ferns have found a footing among uprooted trunks ; grey lichens tuft the boughs. Here the want of balance is what we look for, and would be the keynote 1 One cannot mention these young trees without thinking of J. W. North's picture in the Chantrey Bequest Collection that shows so refined an insight into the subtle charm of the woodlands (see illustration, Plate XXX). \\l ml _ r H H H O a o o n 72 J, >v k WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN TREES 49 of your picture. The seduction of abandonment comes in, and the uneasiness of watching objects of undecided poise has no place. When the roots show above ground they serve as it were for a stand, and the trunk holds itself the better for them. If the bole is imbedded in the soil, it appears not to spring from it, but to have been shoved into it like the flowersticks in our garden. The value of these lines, which connect the bole with the ground, is as con- siderable for displaying a nicety of poise. The truth of this is brought home to us in the case of a forest carpeted with tall bracken hiding such connections. We miss the firmness that the solid contours of the ground would naturally give in connection with the boles. We miss the dark shadows which connect the trunks ; we lose „.v the sharp-edged patches of light that' accentuate the forms we seek. Rank undergrowth, however, need not be shunned when choosing a subject, for the very want of definite forms is of inesti- mable value in contributing to the mystery of the woodlands. Rising unseen from it, the grey stems flecked with sunlight lose all connection with solid earth and become part of that world which the fairies inhabit. (2) Single trees. — It is impossible to combine in the painting of one treeor one groupof trees all the pleasuresthat a painter would like tocom- mand. Think of them — beauty of line, mass, pattern. Think of what this leads you to — the value of parallel lines, of vertical or horizontal lines, of curves contrasted with straight lengths, of angles compared with curves, of long curves with short twists, of variety in the direction and size of objects, of the importance of contrast of dark with light, or of the charm of half tones without dark, or of modelled forms against flat ones ; and still you are leaving out colour and design. To attempt all of these in the painting of one group would be to court failure ; it is better to study those qualities that we associate with masses and those usually found in single objects ; so that our selection in our picture shall make an unconfused statement that by its directness may be understood. In both we must look for the silhouette seen against the sky or background, and for the variety of large and small, distinct and indistinct shapes. A tree standing by itself chiefly attracts our attention to the pattern formed throughout its parts. If the foliage is slight, the line of the main stem can be traced from the ground to its dispersal in a haze of twigs at the apex. The balance, the curves, the straight lines that mark its course become our chief concern, and the sparse foliage with its uncompetitive and indefinite forms acts as a foil to display the lines of the stem and its ramifications ; we have, in fact, the essential charm that belongs to the wTinter period with the exquisite tracery of 50 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES foliage added to it. If the foliage is more compact, attention turns to the branch system, and a combined pattern of leafage and boughs must be sought for. The flat field of dainty foliage is changed to one capable of receiving strong light and shade ; fulness and weight take the place of delicacy. Any single object by its isolation attracts attention — Illus. 9. Study of Young Ash Trees to show the Lines of the Stems a little bush on a bare hill top is a landmark for half the county. We focus it more exactly than we would larger masses, and generally expect a greater exactness and finesse of representation. Single trees may be the motif of a picture ; they may serve to carry on a mass into other parts of the scene by connecting their outlines ; or they may serve to duplicate a solitary light or dark (Fig. 7). Often their graceful WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN TREES 51 Fig. 7 poise is used to tell just as a line in contrast to heavy forms or as a link between them ; or the single tree is placed in front of a group (Fig. 8) with the object of breaking up an over-massive shape — a purpose served so often by a bare sunlit branch in Constable's work. (3) Trees in masses. — Massed trees afford an opportunity for strength of colour and simplicity of tone. A large space covered with one depth of colour is impressive, and need not be frittered away into bits of light and dark or oddments of colour. That would be to substitute prettiness for dignity. The depth of tone on an object having only one colour should be varied, but within a limited range. This is best understood by supposing your tones on the palette to be arranged in order from light to dark, and that a section of the light middle-tones, or dark ones, only is used. Or put it this way — that tints from the left, right, or centre of the scale be used but not from both ends (Fig. 9). If your mass is a dark one and you include the paler tints, you defeat your object, which should be to show its bulk and strength. The idea of bign?ss is helped by some severity in the outline — a gimped edge (Fig. 10) is not conducive to grandeur ! Massed trees at times look spotty and de- tached, especially when viewed from a height or from far off — it may be well to paint them at another time when they throw long shadows over their neighbours, or when the light is behind them, or a cloud shadow passes and their details are lost in the flat space of tone, or when the shafts of light stream across the foliage, making a new spacing of light and shade. We have all, spell- bound, watched the shafts of sunlit mist of the morning streaming through the elms. Fig. 8 Fig. 9 (4) Trees seen in groups — Composition. — The man who can really paint groups of trees needs no teaching except that which is self-imposed, for to paint a group is to be able to compose, and to be able to compose is to be able to arrange things so that they convey to others that which nature meant to you. We may pass a group of trees daily ; suddenly we rush off to paint them ; we always knew they were fine, but could 52 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES not explain why. Now the reason has come to us, and a sketch painted while we are white-hot is likely to affect some amongst those who see it with the feeling we had. But we cannot always wait for impulses, how- ever, and must analyse why we like or dislike arrangements of form or colour ; probably in this lies the chief training in our art, arid it continues throughout our lives. The first thing to decide is, whether we paint our picture for the group or whether the group helps us to paint our picture. If the group is the reason for the existence of the picture, we must see that the other groups are subservient to it, and yet interesting in themselves. Joshua Reynolds says : " In a composition, wThen the objects are scattered and divided into many equal parts, the eye is perplexed and fatigued from not knowing where to rest — where to find the principal action, or which is the principal figure ; for where all are making equal pretensions to notice, all are in equal danger of neglect." You have only to substitute " Group of trees " for " Figure " and you have the best advice to start on. He continues later : " On the other hand, absolute unity, that is, a large work consisting of one group or mass of light only, would be as defective as a heroic poem without episode, or any collateral incidents to recreate the mind with the variety which it always requires." Handbooks offering trite receipts for composing have in many cases been followed too implicitly, their readers becoming adepts at turning out pretty pictures suitable for Christinas cards. There are definite rules founded on the practice of the masters of painting who have each discovered some law that governs Truth and Beauty. My advice on composition would be this : — Choose a group of trees that you admire, then ask yourself why you admire it. Visit it in the early morning before the mists rise ; it is just a flat silhouette of one depth of tone ; it looks immense ; the flat pattern it makes against the back- ground holds our attention. Look at it an hour later ; the low sun lights up the trunks and the sprays of projecting foliage ; you can see the individual leaves and every branchlet ; the flat disc has become a rounded mass split up into sections of rich darks, half-tones, and bright lights, honeycombed throughout with shapes. At midday the details are less conspicuous ; the general effect is quieter and not so divided into dark and lights. Seen in the evening against the light, it has still greater unity, but without the flatness of the early morning. Now you can decide why you like the group. Perhaps it was the silhouette it formed ; it may have been the shape of the trunks against the foliage and the lighting of the ground beneath them ; or was it the large masses of foliage with their feeling of fulness as they take the colour of the sky ? Choose your time of day, and for many days study the groups WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN TREES 53 until you have a truthful painting ot it — truthful in the sense that you have looked for those forms or effects which you had decided upon as the chief attraction, and that you have drawn and painted them as well as you possibly can. Find out how much each form contributes to this central idea ; do not shirk those parts that seem to weaken it, but try not to elaborate them into undue prominence. Indoors take some clean canvases (using charcoal), place your group on each in different positions. Add the second group, and see what effect it has on the principal one, and shift it continuously until the two groups give the impression you are trying for. Then ask yourself why the arrange- ment is the best. Now add other objects to the picture, considering each one as belonging to some group already there. Think of them as black, grey, or white objects, and remember that it is easier to add another to a group if it and the group are of the same tone. This exercise, if carried out with every subject you sketch, will lead you to study intelligently the great painters, and to formulate schemes for distributing objects in those places where they shall be of value to the group to which they are attached. Here, again, we should read Eey- nolds, though we must understand " ornaments " to mean " details." " It appears to be the same right turn ot mind which enables a man to acquire the truth, or the ust idea of what is right, in the ornaments, as in the more staple principles of Art. It has still the same centre of perfection, though it is the centre of a smaller circle." Quite a good elementary idea of arranging groups can be had by arranging a number of toy trees until they look best (Figs. 11 and 12). Elaborate schemes can be worked out by making drawings of the toys and by introducing light and shade (Fig. 13). Fig. 11 4 h Fig. 12 Fig. 13 Learn how to compose by viewing everything as if it had to be painted ; see how painters of repute have arranged and do arrange groups, and remember your Pteynolds : — " Nor whilst I recommend studying the art from artists, can I be supposed to mean that nature is to be neglected ; I take this study in aid, and not in exclusion, of the others. Nature is, and must be, the fountain which alone is inexhaustible, and from which all excellences must originally flow." Jean-Francois Millet, at the request of a friend, at times wrote 54 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES down his belief. I reproduce a part of it (from Scribner's Magazine, 1880), for it is not only delightful to read, but may be taken as a model for guidance : " We should accustom ourselves to receive from Nature all our impressions, whatever they may be and whatever temperament we may have. We should be saturated and impregnated with her, and think what she wishes and makes us think. Truly she is rich enough to supply us all. And whence should we draw, if not from the fountain- head ? Why for ever urge, as a supreme aim to be reached, that which the great minds have already discovered in her, because they have mined her with constancy and labour, as Palissy says ? But, never- theless, they have no right to set up for mankind for ever one example. By that means the productions of one man would become the type and the aim of all the productions of the future. " Men of genius are gifted with a sort of divining-rod ; some discover in nature this, others that, according to their kind of scent. Their pro- ductions assure you that he who finds is formed to find ; but it is funny to see how, when the treasure is unearthed, people come for ages to scratch at that one hole. The point is to know where to look for truffles. A dog who has not scent will be but a poor hunter if he can only run at sight of another who scents the game, and who, of course, must always be the first. And if we only hunt through imitativeness, we cannot run with much spirit, for it is impossible to be enthusiastic about nothing. Finally, men of genius have the mission to show, out of the riches of Nature, only that which they are permitted to take away, and to show them to those who would not have suspected their presence nor ever found them, as they have not the necessary faculties. They serve as translator and interpreter to those who cannot under- stand her language. They can say, like Palissy : ' You see these things in my cabinet.' They, too, may say : ' If you give yourself up to Nature, as we have done, she will let you take away of these treasures according to your powers. You need only intelligence and good-will.' " An enormous vanity or an enormous folly alon3 can make certain men believe that they can rectify the pretended lack of taste or the errors of Nature. On what authority do they lean ? We can under- stand that, with them who do not love her and who do not trust her, she does not let herself be understood, and retires into her shell. She must be constrained and reserved with them. And, of course, they say : ' The grapes are green. Since we cannot reach them, let us speak ill of them.' We might here apply the words of the prophet : ' Deus resistit superbis, sed gratiam dat humilibus.' " Nature gives herself to those who take the trouble to court her, but she wishes to be loved exclusively. We love certain works only WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN TREES 55 because they proceed from her. Every other work is pedantic and heavy. " We can start from any point and arrive at the sublime, and all is proper to be expressed, provided our aim is high enough. Then what you love with the greatest passion and power becomes a beauty of your own, which imposes itself upon others. Let each bring his own. An impression demands expression, and especially requires that which is capable of showing it most clearly and strongly. The whole arsenal of Nature has ever been at the command of strong men, and their genius has made them take, not the things which are conventionally called the most beautiful, but those which suited best their places. " For example, in its own time and place, has not everything its position ? Who shall dare to say that a potato is inferior to a pome- granate ? " Illus. 10. This Sketch shows how Fig. 12 could be used — the Trees are merely reversed and elaborated CHAPTER III BALANCE OF DARK SPACES WITH LIGHT, AND OF LARGE MASSES WITH SMALL — WEIGHT OF MASSES AND DELICACY — TREES SEEN NEAR AND FAR OFF Balance of dark spaces with light. — If it is difficult to represent trees, it is much more difficult to place them in the right position on the canvas. The difficulty is due to the necessity of balancing all the parts so as to produce an agreeable whole. It is the appreciation of balance in a good picture that distinguishes it from a bad. In its complete meaning, balance embraces colour, line, light, and shade — the balance of warm and cold colours, of straight and curved lines, of light and dark and grey spaces. The greater part of an artist's time and thought is occupied with these problems. The balance of light and dark spaces only is here touched on in its relation to the painting of trees. The first difficulty before a student is to see nature as spaces of light and dark, not as a number of separate objects independent of their surroundings. A tree might be this shape (Fig. ] 4), but if there is a shadow under it;, it becomes for the purpose of a picture this shape (Fig. 15), and we see that the shadow is as important as the tree in forming this dark space. A couple of trees might be distinct in lighting (Fig. 16), or they might, from similarity of tone, be used as one form (Fig. 17). It is of the utmost importance to realise this, so I will press the point further. Here are two trees, a piece of ground, and a figure (Fig. 18), but under a uniform lighting they become one form, and it is the space of grey between them that attracts attention (Fig. 18). Take another example : in Fig. 19a the trees are by the water side, but the wind destroys their reflection; in Fig. 196 the water is still, and the space of dark (1 96) is twice as long as before. Again (Figs. 22, 23, 24), there are three trees, but they make different spaces. Nature provides the spaces 56 Fig. 14 Fig. 15 BALANCE 57 Fig. 16 Fig. 17 of light and dark by cloud-shadows, by reflection, by pale and dark coloured objects, by rain clouds and clear skies. The labour of man adds to our choice crops of different hues, pale cornfields, dark herbage, and tilled ground. The spaces are there if we seek them, but are very rarely arranged ready for use, or are seen for a moment only, under a passing effect of light. They have to be balanced to become acceptable. If they happen to be more or less arranged, they must be transferred to the canvas on an appropriate scale or they lose their vitality. A balance in exactly equal proportions between dark and light masses is too formal to be pleasing ; but a total want of balance is even more dis- quieting— a fact that beginners should note, as they too often err in placing their principal objects in out-of-the-way corners of their canvas, having heard they should not be quite in the centre. There is a quaintness and una fleet edn ess in the formality of nearly equally spaced light and dark that should be recognised. The charm of Hobbema's Avenue (see Plate XIII, p. 35) owes something to this as well as to the receding straight lines. The well-worn plan of a diagonal division ol dark and light with a small strong dark in the light and small lights in the dark seems as fresh and pleasing as ever, and we turn to it in Corot's " Souvenir de Morte-Fontaine " (Plate XXIII) as if it were something new. When the principal objects form a dark pat- tern against the background our efforts are mainly directed to disposing them well ; after that, in placing the smaller forms such as detached pieces of foliage, and in elaborating the interest of their outline. If the objects are strongly lit, more attention must be paid to the individual parts. The shapes of masses of foliage must be selected with a view to a good design, the character of this being de- termined by the habit of growth of the tree, promise between appearance and art. Thei Fig. 18 Fig. 20 Fig. 21 Two examples of even spac- ing that should be avoided It is a matter for corn- will be truth as well 58 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES 22 23 as beauty in an intelligent rendering of these selected forms which a literal statement of appearances overlooking the main design cannot give. The value of interesting spaces of dark and light is nowhere better seen than in those pictures where a number of tree trunks play an import- ant part. The interior of a pine wood under ordinary lighting is insufferably dreary ; the parallel lines of the trunks, with but little variety of intervals, are as wearisome as the bare hop poles of Kent, though the pines might make a back- ground for a funeral procession. Lit by the setting sun, the stems become spaced by light and shade ; some are caught by the golden light, others sink into uniform greyness, patches of foliage tell, dark and sharp, between. So we get intervals of light, dark, and middle tones, and our duty is to choose each tone, not for its value independently, but for its influence over other tones throughout the design. It is not necessary that a 'picture should always be divided into large masses of light and dark. A sparkling effect of considerable beauty is obtained by patches of alternating light and dark, a theme that has been exploited with success by modern painters (see illustration, Plate XLII). The pictorial possibilities of this spotted arrangement is no new discovery ; figure- painters employed it long ago, but its application to landscape seems an innovation, to the credit chiefly of Monet and his followers. The fascina- tion of sunlit ground splashed with a chequered shade from trees should convince even the stereo- typed painter, who follows the old routine, that nature presents many different faces that could be utilised for the pleasure of those shut up in towns. I can never see large stems cutting across a landscape without feeling again the grandeur and notion of space they convey ; but this impression is more often gained from the intervals between the trunks than from the trunks themselves. The greatness of a colonnade seen in perspective is always felt ; and some- of this architectural sense of dignity is seen in the stems. It is Fier. Figs. 25-26 Examples of a too equal and a too unequal ar- rangement thinj a good plan, when drawing, to shape the largest forms first, and this BALANCE 59 method applied to a row of trees ensures strict attention being given to the spaces between the trees. Draw the spaces first, then redraw the Fig. 29 Fig. 27 trunks left between (Figs. 27 and 28). Turner's " Liber Studiorum " should open the road to the study of balance in dark and light masses. The drawing " Near Blair Athol " is perhaps the finest. Balance of largeand small objects . — There is an arrangement amateurs are fond of. It consists of some trees (Fig. 29), equal in size, surrounded by large tracts of country — a most difficult plan in which to interest anyone. The unvaried and small scale of the trees makes them unimportant, and gives them that little, far-off look of figures on a stage when seen from the gallery ; the spectator loses the perspective that decides the size of objects. That this is a serious loss will be understood if a distant tree is looked at through a telescope and compared with one seen near at hand ; both may be drawn the same size, but there is no foreshortening in the one seen through the telescope. W. L. Wyllie, in his artistic book on perspective, gives examples of boats seen near and far off, and the study of this work will suggest many applications of the laws of nature to the drawing of trees. But this type of picture has other faults ; these small trees, if not arranged, suggest a strip of landscape chosen at random, and copied indiffer- ently well. If they are arranged, from the large spaces that surround them they seem to be the only trees in the country (Fig. 30) ; this would Fi&* 31 not be the case if they were cut off (Fig. 31) by the edges of the picture. The value of variety in the size of objects cannot be overstated, and A ) $ \ f^m -v Fig. 30 BALANCE 61 Fig. 32 the illusion that makes a twig in the foreground look as large as a whole tre3 in the distance should be utilised to the utmost, though the absurd distortion of the camera should be avoided. Again, if we refer to the " Liber," we see how often Turner allowed his trees to be cut off — he liked to be nearly under them, and the trunks seemed to him immense, stretching up we do not know how far into the sky ; behind the trunks there is a speck for a tree, evi- dently miles away ; on one side of the picture there is half a tree, on the other side just a spray. This is the sort of landscape you can walk into among the trees, instead of having that horrid space to get over before you reach the footlights. Every able painter knows the use of variety in the size of masses, and uses it. One thinks of Briton Riviere's picture of the great bank of clouds and the tiny figure below with outstretched arms ; of fine landscape in which mere dots for trees and a strip of ground support great skies. Turner, with much daring, in one drawing, " Mill near the Grande Chartreuse," has run great stems through the height of the picture so that they are cut off both by the top and bottom margin ; but see how they take us right up to the crags and rushing water — we get intimate with the scene immediately. With many objects differing in size (Fig. 32, 33), it would seem impossible to get a nice balance, if it were not that a small separate object is so effective that it balances a large object that is not isolated (see Illus. 12 of Corot's "Macbeth and the Witches"). Differences of surface often help a smalt object to hold its own against larger ones. For instance, a large mass of indistinct Willows will be balanced by a small tuft of sharply defined Rushes. There are times when the size of a thing is settled for us ; but we wish to make it appear larger or smaller. Let us suppose that you have a tree trunk that does not give the impression of great girth as you wish it to do ; add the line of a sapling beside it (Fig. 34), and it takes its full size directly. If a form seems too large, devise some way of dividing it into sections by lines, if you cannot lessen it by the easier method of splitting it up into different tones of light and dark. The object of dividing a space to reduce its length will be seen by comparing a bare Larch stem and an Ash (that has boughs), both having the same heights. Looking at the Larch you run your eye up and down, and arrive at no conclusion as to its height — it merely seems terribJy tall. Fig. 33 Fig. 34 BALANCE 63 Run your eye along the Ash and it pauses at the first branch, then at the next, and you can guess the length of each section. The mystery of its unknown height is gone ; it is a thing you can measure, and there- fore think less of. (2) Weight of masses and delicacy. — The principal consideration, if we leave out colour, in composing a picture is without doubt the Illus. 13. Sketch exemplifying Masses Veiled by Lighter Forms balance of large forms with small, and the balance of dark forms with grey and white ; but we must not overlook the importance of comparing decided masses with indefinite ones, and in landscape this requires particular attention. We hear a picture summed up by those who do not paint as "so nice and soft," " horribly hard," as if it were Teddy Bears or other absurdities that were talked of. Generally a picture should have both qualities, though one of them may predominate. The charm and use of indefinite forms compared with solid masses is well seen in the bulk of tree foliage bordering the sky apertures. These, however, must be taken in detail presently. Another example is when a tree of massed foliage and one thinly clad stand the one in front of the other (Illus. 13). It is a case where the 64 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES outline of the massed one may either be used to contrast sharply with the delicate forms of the other, or the delicate forms may be a means of lessening the abruptness of the massed form by blurring it, as it were, into the sky. A great space of indefinite form can be balanced by a small distinct one. This we notice when a dabchick swims in front of Illus. 14. Small Forms seen against a Flat Background a great bed of Withies. Some would say this happens because the dabchick is alive and lively, therefore more interesting than the Withies, but a lump of wood really answers the purpose equally well. (3) Trees seen near and far off. — A distant tree, rendered flat in tone by the atmosphere, is recognised by the pattern it makes against . the sky or the background. The main shape, unconfused / °;/ : : Illus. 30. This Drawing of a Twig of Alder bearing Catkins is A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE EePETITION TO BE FOUND LN FORM invite scrutiny — the circle of a full moon is full of incident. It is just the little accidents in the passage of a line — whether curved or straight — that make it so personal and living, and keep it from the slur of msmm Illus. 31. A Twig of Alder Notice bow often the same curves are repeated 92 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Fig. 62 looking machine made. We seem to have a horror of absolute precision. The lines of foliage often follow one another with beautiful regularity, but there is an independence and ease in the way they fall into place, and endless variety is caused by the different angles we view them from. The hanging branchlets of a Larch differ from one another only in details, and [yet they can afford pleasure for an odd hour ; three minutes' contemplation of a mantel fringe would satiate most people ! Regularity in lines should not be avoided, but the intermixing of regular and much-varied ones should be undertaken with discretion. The precise lines of a fir plantation may easily be a blot on the forest — and more easily so in a sketch — if the slight deviation of their lines is missed or their character over-emphasized by total isolation. (7) Straight lines are more austere than curved lines, and help to suggest restraint, dignity, and strength. Curved lines give delicacy and grace, circular ones suggest weight and even a coarse exuberance. The severity of a Larch wood is undeniable. Column follows after column with no relief. Even the early architects found the austerity of many vertical lines unbearable ; after they had secured dignity and a feeling of strength they yielded to the desire for relaxation by the addition of varied ornament. Straight lines in a picture are of inestimable value. A straight line is the backbone of a landscape. The composition of a picture is regulated and completed by the straight lines of the frame. All curves are moulded on straight lines. Curved lines require a straight one to steady them. It is by straight lines that we estimate the curves of others (Fig. 62). The outline of a tree is made up of many straight lines. Sometimes the straight lines are so short that the curve — though built on them — seems independent (Fig. 63) ; in these cases it is a good plan to look for lengths that could possibly be fashioned with straight pieces, and it will be found that the comparative length of these straight pieces determine the character of the curve. Sometimes three or four straight lines only would be needed to cut the edges of all the main blocks of foliage. The idea suggests the framework which builders use in constructing an arch. Elms, in particular, are outlined by straight-cut edges, and are by them conspicuous among the Fig. 63 Fig. 64.— Elm TUEE THE OUTLINE OF A TREE 93 rounder and more uneven tops of the Oaks, though these also have straight pieces. These long lines connecting one clump of foliage with another are repeated by shorter straight lines here and there on the boundary of the foliage (Figs. 65 and 66). The restraint and dignity :kw9 ^0fv%Mh\ ; XML (fljp M f2«£ mi n" an ! ■ i Ml 75 For instance, the shoots on a Pollard Willow radiate in curved lines from the apex of the trunk. There is a spring in their curve that is delightful, and varied repetition adds to their charm ; remembering this, we might group the Pollards with success, when neglect of the cause of their charm would create a clashing of lines — a sort of Willow warfare that would lead to calamity. The selection of lines is so integral a part of composition that it would be wise in spare moments to practise arrangements with any objects at hand ; ten minutes spent with a box of matches will explain the most obvious effects of one line on another (a matter to be con- sidered daily out of doors) better than would the wading through and digesting of pages of written treatise, though the latter has the advan- tage of stimulating ideas. Compare A, where the matches follow the Fig. 76 Fig. 77 Fig 78 Fig. 79 same course but are not equally spaced, with B, where they cross anyhow ; we prefer A, but, if it is too orderly for your purpose, try a slight or greater angle of divergence, C and D. Now compare C and D with E, where the lines are equal in length. Make them quite equal and equidistant from the crossing, and they become impossible F. A literal copy of a bough is often unpleasant to look at ; the removal of one branch brings about an improvement that might lead to success if emphasis is given to certain lines and not to all equally. Branches are often so beautiful in form that they lure us on, line by line, to a detailed representation that misses the very thing we set out to draw ; 104 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES it is then that we benefit by the habit of considering all objects, whether trivial or not, with a view to their artistic possibilities. The removal of one line or the placing of a stronger accent on another will often Fig. 80 Fig. 81 Fig. 82 Fig. 83 convert a faithful but poor drawing into a good one. We spoke of the contrast of curves in separate lines, but contrasts must be recognised in a single line ; call it variety if you like (Fig. 80). A Birch stem is un- deniably graceful, and the landscape man sees in it the lines that a figure painter finds in the figure of a girl ; there is the same spring and ease in the longest curve con- structed of less important curves ; there are the same accents that give it strength and the same balance that brings dignity. Beginners are apt to miss the swing of the long curve by an exaggera- tion of the smaller (Figs. 81, 82). The lissom line, so firm and graceful, becomes degraded into a lumpy wriggle reminiscent of bent wire, or it looks flabby and unable to support the boughs and leaves \ I 1 \ that furnish it. Many stems of trees start from the \ \ \ \ ground in a perpendicular line, then break into a short curve repeated above by a longer and reversed one (Fig. 83). We have here the variety of a straight line and two dissimilar curves, but the accents at the junction of the curves should not be overlooked, as they influence the curves in different ways. If you draw these alternating curves as one line (Fig. 84a), it becomes a double curve without break until its meeting Illus. 38. The Boughs of a Crab Apple Tree 106 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES with the perpendicular length. If, on the other hand, you draw the alternating curves with an accent at their junction (Fig. 846), you get two distinct curves. Again, if you miss the accent at the top of the straight length, you get much the appearance of three curves (Fig. 85) that alternate in direction. The union of one curve with another is often marked on one side of the stem by a break, while on the other side the flow of the line is unin- terrupted. In place of the alternating curves we sometimes see a limb taking its course by curves facing the same direction. If this is strongly marked, a sort of kink is formed, and is of distinctive value as a relief from straight or slightly curved lines. The individuality in the outline on either side of a bough is apparent also i /rfi y>^^ f$& f '■•' j . . . ■ _ i Illus. 39. Pendent Branch of Ash Notice the "spring" in the curves LINES OF THE BRANCHES 107 from one outline being continuous above and below a junction (Fig. 86) and the other being broken by the added thickness of the older portion. The variety seen in curves may occasionally be due more to perspective than to any great change in their course. A young Sycamore, at times precisely symmetrical, might be irritating from the tameness of perfection if it were not for the perspective changes of the branches coming to and from us. Our pleasure in the hanging branches is increased by the contrast of curves that spring from the upper or lower sides respectively, and in others (Fig. 87) that start from the upper side, curve downwards, and Illus. 40. Branch of Birch Compare the loose straying of the branches with the firm lines of the Ash 108 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES then up again. Such a line as the last has all the suggestion of a steel spring and nothing of debility. We find it in the hanging branches of an Fig. 88 Fig 87 Fig. 86 Ash. It is the same formation that in other species (Apple, Oak, Alder, Thorn, for instance) becomes a firm elbow or crozier, with less grace, but conclusive in its testimony to the strength of construction. On these pendent boughs the curves may be repeated again and again. Truth in representation demands that our curves should conform to the habit of the tree, but a choice of curves is legitimate, even so, by painting — as if broken off — any line we consider undesirable. We are at liberty to form our curves out of the remain- ing portion of the parent bough, continued by the offshoot as one curve ; or we can take the parent bough and destroy the offshoot. It will be seen that the result in each case is remarkably different (Figs. 88, 89). There is a peculiar attraction in those young stems that, after some length of vertical line, make a wriggle and continue their former course ; the halt in the undemonstrative straightness Fig. 90 0f foe line piques our curiosity. It is one of the useful accidents in nature, of minor importance, that should not be forgotten in the uninspiring atmosphere of the studio ; with it rank LINES OF THE BRANCHES 109 the amusing and highly decorative loops, knots, and spirals of the clinging ivy and honeysuckle. The custom of pegging down the half- severed Ash and Beech saplings to form a hedgerow is productive of weird curves and tortuous bends, while their intermixing of roots and new-formed shoots create a fantasy out of the commonplace well worthy of consideration. CHAPTER VJI VARIETY IN LIGHT AND SHADE — VARIETY IN COLOUR- CAUSES OF THIS -SOME A knowledge of structure gives to our drawing an almost unconscious variety of light and shade that is independent of the accidents of shadows cast over a form or the difference of tones by which local colour is translated. If we were drawing a nude figure in full light, our experience of the appearances of constructional forms would bring about a constant variety of light and shade while we were engaged in presenting the form of the flat or rounded planes of tendons, muscles, flesh, or of those parts where the bones are near the surface. Each surface — according to whether it was turned towards or away from the light — would represent to our minds a definite tone reserved for it and for all other surfaces that were in a similar Fig. 91 plane. From the scale of tones we had decided to employ, we should select one after another, until every surface had a tone to tally with it and explain its position in reference to the light. Variety in tone would ensue from the difference of the angle at which one plane joined another ; a wide hollow, for instance, might require four tones to describe the gradually inclined plane, * when two tones only would give the steep sides of a sharp furrow ; so that the transition from light to dark in the former would be gradual, and in the latter abrupt. Additional changes in lighting would follow, by the reflection of light from one surface on to Fig. 92 another ; and the intensity of this reflected light would explain the proximity of each surface. It is the besetting sin of students not to apply the same reasoning (such as we have just considered) when drawing masses of foliage or the limbs of a tree — it is the misfortune of the landscape painter that the multitude no Illus. 41. The Koundness of Twigs — Thorn Tree 112 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES *XV of forms out of doors under an ever-changing light confuse him in his observance of such facts. The analogy of the limbs of a tree to those of the human figure is at times almost uncanny, at others just discernible. The muscular forma- tions that make up the stems and large boughs of a Holly often bear a marked resemblance to those of a leg or an arm, and it is a common occurrence for the contours of a bough to alternate as do the muscles of the forearm and those above the elbow. It is generally thought that twigs are cylindrical, and in practice they may be considered so, if not seen too near at hand ; and yet very few twigs will be found made like a gaspipe ; they are built up of more or less flattened sides, a formation that cannot be missed in the young shoots of an Alder, Guelder Kose, Ash, Sweet Chest- nut, Walnut and others (Illus. 42 and Fig. 93). Such young growths will not only be (in section) a hexagon or some other flat -sided figure, but will often be enriched with pro- jecting keels that divide one plane from another. These observations would be too botanical to serve the purpose of an artist if it were not that they give one reason for the variety in the lighting of the branches. Again, at the junction of a shoot with a branch there is an increased girth, and in some species the shoots are given out to right and left of the branch alternately. If the bough is then seen so that the shoots are in profile, it will often appear thicker than in" the position when the shoots are in front and behind it. This appear- ance is sometimes emphasized by a flattened space across the junction, that affords a large surface for the light to play upon instead of the line of light that runs down the length of a tube. This point is so obviously enforced by a glance at a Walnut shoot that I illus- trate it (Fig. 94), but I am really thinking of its application to those horizontal boughs that bear branches on either side, all being in the same Fig. 93.— Fluted shoots of Spanish Chestnut plane. When we admire the roundness of an IB OQ o - w D O W H fa O a 114 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES arm or the precisely tubular form of some twigs, we acknowledge the occurrence as something outside the general rule, and accentuate it in our drawing. The flat spaces constructing other circular forms give to them just that strength and variety that prevents their re- lapsing into naccidity. Under the simple light of a grey sky the foliage of a tree can be considered and studied as the planes that construct a great dome ; a simple statement of each tone that represents each different plane will give fulness and solidity, and some varietv. If we take as a Fig. 95. — See scale of tones (Fig. 92 of this chapter) model one of those clipped Yews or Laurels of an old garden, we can see exactly how the light should fall on each surface (Fig. 95), and the exercise will accustom us to look for and recognise in the free-grown forms of the forest tree those surfaces that are in the same plane, and to render them by the. same tone ; when painting a tree with this intention, we can differ- entiate those over-reaching forms which catch another light that does not belong to their plane. When we are hustled, trying to record the variety and charm of the glittering lights or sunlit sprays, it is easy to forget that they are an accident to be added to the bulk of the tree, Fig. 94. — Walnut twig Notice the projecting keels VARIETY IN LIGHT AND SHADE 115 and that it must still be built of a definite scale of tones ; this we must remember, otherwise we get all sparkle but no tree to hold it. It will not be amiss to think of our tree as made up of a certain set of tones, and for the sunlit parts to use a new and lighter set, quite apart from the others. Sunlight brings with it other sources of variety, for it passes through the thin layers of leafage and causes them to be lighter (though more rich and transparent) than are many spaces of the more densely leaved groups. When the sun is behind the tree we see the effect of a dark trunk, and perhaps some boughs, against the bright transparent colour of the thin layers of leaves on the far side ; these transparent leaves are of two or three tones according to their density. Projecting groups of foliage on the near-side that abut them tell as a dark against them. These are, of course, much greyer in colour from the sky reflection, though the greyness is replaced by a dark rich green in the recesses, where they are lit by the reflected green light from other leaves ; the tops and edges of the tree take a lighter grey as they recede round its dome. With the sun high up in the sky, spaces towards the apex are caught by a high light of glitter, and the ends that jut out lower down are also touched with sparkle or look greener than the parts in shadow. Where gaps occur, the sunlight streams through ; then the transparent bright leaves, with the grey-lit ones and the general shimmer, confuse the opening, and the halation dispels all matter-of-fact observances. Branches that cut across such a light lose their edges and darkness and modelling, and become thin strips of undecided half tone. Variety in the light and shade of the limbs is caused in part by the texture of the surface ; the smooth bark of a Holly stem catches only that light that should normally fall on a particular strip of a cylinder or on the con- tours that compose it, while the loose layers of papery bark curling from a Birch stem may on the shadow side catch a light that belongs to the surface facing the light. So also the bole of a Birch or Elder, deeply fissured by split bark of some thickness, carries many darks into the light side, while the bark itself in relief takes light towards the shadow side |; thus the simple gradation from light to dark that would describe the roundness of the limb is interrupted by auxiliary splashes of light, grey, and dark. Other delightful effects, giving variety, come from the cast shadows and sunspots that chequer the boughs ; and one should notice that under some conditions the details of the bark, lichen, and markings are seen best in the sunlit spaces — under other conditions in the shadow spaces ; the strongest colour, too, must be looked for in one or the other. These are not, however, things to dogmatise about, since the effects are the results of the conditions, and these vary beyond de- scription. Boughs are sometimes painted too monotonous in tone ; the 116 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES reflected light on the under side of the horizoDtal ones is not observed, nor is sufficient account taken of the cast shadows from the small branches at their junction, nor sufficient use made of the give and take on the edges when seen first against a dark and then against a light background. Various differences in the size of the branches, and more particularly of the twigs, in various species, account for the wonderfu variety we see in winter time or in the interior of a wood, irrespective of the direction assumed by them. If we remember that the ex- tremities of a Larch or a Birch are made up of millions of minute twigs that collectively would equal the girth of the parent boughs, and that it is the same thing with other trees — a Horse Chestnut, for example — we are not surprised, after comparing the width of each, to find that the Horse Chestnut has but few twigs ; and we are less surprised that the Larch twigs disappear in a haze while the Chestnut shoots stand detached and clearly seen. We come across pictures where the interest to be derived from these variations is neglected for the sake of following a certain method of representing trees, founded on the workmanship of some Master who utilised a particular technique to render a particular species, but had no thought of every tree, however dissimilar, being subjected to it. Such painters have covered English and Scottish land- scape with hybrid Oaks, Birches, or Willows, following on the great names that for the time had sway ; when the freshness of the fashion has worn off, their work appears stripped of any pleasure-giving means — just a meaningless representation of nothing in particular, and we notice only its extravagance of untruth. Variety in colour. — People who do not paint — when talking of variety in colour — usually refer to Beech trees in autumn, or to a hillside [in spring, where Larch and Pine are grown together ; but without strain- ing at these excesses of nature one can appreciate the simple variety in colour noticed in woods, where one tree recedes behind another, until the most distant ones lose their own colour identity in their assimilation with the colour of the sky. Even those near at hand will be affected by the sky, and all wTill be tinted by the varying light of the sun as the day passes ; so the tree we wrote down as bright green yesterday is grey this morning, and by evening may be golden red. It would be fatuous to try and describe the effects of coloured lights on coloured objects, but we may call to notice the violent contrast between red and green of a tree partly lit by the evening light, or the blue shadows that fill the hollows of gold-tipped masses, and we can but say that the atmosphere makes such colours at times, and at other times fills the contours and hollows alike, with the red glow or golden haze. For these things unwearying observation and homage only can be the teachers. Each tree has its colour, as we have said, influenced by the sky, and each VARIETY IN LIGHT AND SHADE 117 colour has its own grey — the difficulty and most of the charm of colour lie in this relation of the one to the other. I know nothing more Illus. 43. Twig of Aspen (see Illus. 44) difficult to match than the exquisite greys on the reds and mauve of fcare trees under a winter sky ; it is not the self-coloured grey of the 118 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Oak limbs (beautiful as that is), but the hazard grey that belongs to red and mauve twigs under the right atmosphere. The passage from the grey of the sky to the grey of the twigs is so slight, yet the greys are Illus. 44. Twig of Goat Willow Compare thickness with twig of Aspen (Illus. 43) distinct, though in harmony. It is a mistake to suppose that greys are only seen in the shadows ; at times most of the colour of an object is seen in the shadows or in the little hollows that miss actual sunlight on the sunlit side here the colour is often reinforced by reflected light VARIETY IN LIGHT AND SHADE 119 from the same colour (as we notice in the hollow of a half-closed hand). Sunlight niay show up the full colour of an object or it may, by heighten- ing its tone, reduce the effect of colour. The golden leaves of an Elm look wonderfully brilliant in the sunlight ; if you bring them inside they lose their brilliance, but appear a stronger colour. It is difficult to distinguish exactly between the brilliance of light colour and the glow of strong colour when speaking of colour, and beginners get confused between the two when imitating them, as is seen by their making a sunset yellow but not light, and when they put a distant roof as vermilion when it should be pink. Apart from sunlight, it is usual to find the full colour absent from those places where the strongest light falls ; for these spaces, fully lit, contain many tender greys, or they actually reflect the sky colour so forcibly that it becomes more important than the local colour. To conclude these scrappy remarks on colour (a thing terribly difficult to write about), I strongly advise students to constantly paint nice coloured objects indoors, carefully noting the grey that belongs to them, and how it is influenced by the texture and lighting. Exercises in colour on unchangeable objects that leave no loophole to excuse misrepresentation, are full of interest for artists who, by experience, understand their value ; but still-life objects such as a piece of cloth, velvet, or glass are only interesting to paint as com- positions of tone and colour ; so it is difficult to wean students from the more engrossing task of perpetual figure drawing. This we readily grant to be the finest training for drawing, but slovenliness in matching colour is more difficult to overcome in later life than slovenliness in drawing. Neglect of the science of colour in early days can only bring regret in later life, when each year adds to our conviction of the possi- bilities that mastery over colour can achieve. Facility in matching- colours correctly should coincide with the acquirement of correct drawing. These two together should be the preliminary training for the next step — that of painting in good schemes of colour and drawing in expressive sets of lines. If the patience of the student would with- stand such a test, I would like him to cut out from a piece of neutral grey paper some targets, and on each successively place a bull's-eye of black, white, orange, blue, red, and emerald green, noting in each case how the grey target seemed to become in turn a light grey, dark-grey, blue-grey, yellow-grey, green -grey, and red-grey, and observing that none of the greys wTere identical with the piece of paper from which the targets were cut. This done, he should turn his back on them, and with his paints repeat from memory each grey. Surely such an exercise would profit him more than elaborating an already superfine stipple on his drawing from the antique. Illus. 45. Trees Crowded in Woods CHAPTER VIII INFLUENCE OF SITUATION — HOW TREES ADAPT THEMSELVES TO IT — EFFECT OF AGE, WIND, FROST, AND SNOW — MOONLIGHT Influence of situation. — As a rule young trees, when cultivated with others of a different species (to nurse them by their shelter in early life), are crowded together to promote straight long timber in the trunks ; for a tree that has not elbow room devotes all its energy to reaching the light above it, and the lower side boughs are weak and dwindle away. When it has overtopped its neighbours, or they have been thinned Out, it begins to expand with vigour. Such a tree would present quite a different appearance if grown by itself and permitted to develop naturally. The tall straight trunk would then divide into large boughs at no great height from the ground, and the lateral boughs would spread to some considerable distance from the trunk. In an exposed position a solitary tree is likely to grow squat in form, or to become straggling, denuded' of many limbs and scanty of foliage. Others seem unable to push their way into the inhospitable space, and remain short in stature and overcrowded with internal forms shorn close by the wind like over- grown bushes matted, dwarfed, and constrained. But if an exposed position is a calamity for some trees, it is life to others ; we find the frail-looking Birch luxuriating in high positions and withstanding the severest cold ; in fact, I understand it is the only species of tree in Greenland, and is a common inhabitant of Russia and Siberia, though in the more northern cJimates it becomes dwarfed to a mere bush. It is common knowledge that trees have — like all other vegetation — a preference for certain soils, and develop fine or poor specimens in relation to how they are suited ; but it may not have been generally noticed that a wet or dry site has a distinct influence on the colouring of the leaves in autumn. Trees easily adapt themselves to positions ; a chance seed dropped on a rock will find nourishment among the moss, and the roots — gripping with a tenacious hold the uneven surface of the stone and pushing their way into the crevices — will reach in time the soil ; and the tree will flourish in spite of such a precarious start in life. A tree overblown can often exist by the few unsevered roots left to it, and can 121 122 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES put forth new vertical shoots at right angles to the stem, though its habit normally would be to bear them at perhaps half that angle. Large poles of Willow are so tenacious of life that, if planted, they will sometimes form roots — just as a small cutting would — and become before long promising young trees. Stacks of Withies are often seen with their butt-ends in water peppered over with fresh young green, lUt ^.V --.ri—- f. Illus. 46. Oak Tree deformed by being Crowded while logs of Elm ready for firewood will sometimes break into leaf. The old stools in the copses of Spanish Chestnut, Oak, and Hazel, though cropped every seven years, yet make a fresh start, and the same season may give forth shoots of four or five feet in length. If a tree is crowded on one side, it always makes good use of vacant space on the other. Trees that fringe the roadway find elbow-room above it Q > o P H I I INFLUENCE OF SITUATION 123 until they meet one another and form those delightful arches of living green through which the road winds. Trees overhanging a roadway are always pleasing, for their pose accords with their position, and the trunk and lower boughs continue the curved lines of the shelving banks and road. Elsewhere they might seem unbalanced — might seem to be leaning over and sheltering nothing ; we want the road or bridle path to which they are so harmoniously related. Effect of old age. — Some trees in their old age take a totally different form to that of their younger days — the Scots Pine or Stone Pine, for instance, is cone-shaped when young (then spaces of sky are visible cutting in from the outline to the trunk between the tiers of branches) ; in its old age it might be caricatured as an umbrella ; since all but the upper boughs have decayed, leaving a bare trunk. Again, a Larch no longer remains feathered from tip to base as it grows older, but retains merely the upper part of the cone supported by an immense bare trunk. It is a feature of a well-grown tree that the extremity of each main bough is terminated by a straight line, and a number of these lines go to the building up of the outline shapes. In mature specimens of many sorts of trees these straight lines are practically unbroken, though serrated by the unevenness of the foliage or twigs, and small spaces of sky are seen between them at the edge. In a later period these spaces are widened by the loss of branches and the edges become more deeply cut — gaps appear in place of boughs and symmetry is lost, though a new element of irregular or grotesque forms is gained. These borders of straight edges are a feature of the Elm, Oak, Sycamore among others, but are seldom to be found on a Beech, and are absent in most young trees. A total dissimilarity in appearance between young and old trees, as we see in the Scots Pine, is due to the fact that, unlike most trees, it has not the power to form new boughs below those already grown. As tier by tier the lower boughs decay and fall, the trunk — still increasing in height and girth — is left bare except for those stumps and nodes that mark the position of former boughs. In contrast to this law we may quote the hedgerow Elm, which for every bough lopped from its trunk responds by sending out a new crop of young shoots, and these often form so dense a clothing that the trunk itself is invisible. The branches of a young tree, hastening to reach the limit of the outline allotted to them, make great strides each season, and one finds the vigour of an Elder (or perhaps a shoot from the stool of a Spanish Chestnut) enab- ling it to form robust shoots some six or .ten feet long ; but impetuosity like this cannot be maintained throughout life, and as their span draws near the yearly growth of the twigs may be measured by half inches, and the closeness of multiplied forms is seen instead of the long loose sprays of a former period. In young trees the branches are drawn ;■ % Illus. 47. The Top of a Young Sycamore showing the Regularity of its Paired Shoots INFLUENCE OF SITUATION 125 upwards towards the sky, but presently those formed above them obscure it, and they have to seek the light by spreading horizontally, thus a larger angle between stem and bough becomes an irrevocable feature of maturity. The upward tendency of the branches is a point to be noticed as common to all young trees. The young Birch with stiffened branch formations set at an acute angle shows but little plasticity, and the moulding of the branchlets into the graceful pendant lines to be taken latei on is merely hinted at. A Spanish Chestnut or aD Oak through early and middle life has a freedom in growing un- connected with its old age. The extreme vigour and preciseness of form in the saplings of an Ash or Sycamore (Illus. 47), the regularity of their paired shoots, their smooth texture, variety of contour, with the regular diminishing in the proportions of the old to the new wood, give pleasure not unconnected with wonder at the exactness of equip- ment and regulations for growing ; that, if followed, would make each Sycamore exactly like any other Sycamore, and every Ash appear as a twin brother. That this does not happen is chiefly due to an habitual failure year by year of certain buds to perform their allotted part of producing branches as their companions are doing, and these wasters have as great an influence on the eventual shape of the mature tree as have those buds that bring forth boughs with unfailing regularity — a matter we shall inquire into in detail presently. In a very young tree — despite the want of grace, sturdiness, or complexity, for which it will be noted when fully grown — there is always sufficient character for its identification. The right angles of the Oak may be diminutive, but they exist, and its dislike to forming branches on the under side of a bough is in evidence. Often a branch formed on the under side is crowded out oi existence later on as the boughs become hori- zontal (Illus. 48). A glance at the crowded buds explains the bushiness assumed later on, just as the widely spaced buds of an Ash foretell an open system of branching (Illus. 47). Eeference again to the stem of a Birch shows the youngster with a red -brown shining bark instead of the silver-greys, salmon, and pinks we see on the older trees. This difference comes about by the peeling off of the outer bark, so exhibiting the linings previously hidden under it. Twigs on a grown tree have later on to assume a new position for display of their leaves to the light, as their attitude, when free to the air, becomes untenable when shadowed by masses of foliage above, so they curve and recurve in a way suggestive of human ingenuity — but again we are trespassing on Part III of the book. Oaks in their extreme old age acquire a pictorial interest quite unrelated to them as trees merely. They are just records of time and the stress of life — gaunt fantastic skeletons, survivors of the time past ; 126 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES and they are seen at their best under a thunderstorm such as they have for centuries defied, or in the mystery of nightfall when an owl startles the silence and the nightjar flaps ghostly with a warning cry (Illus. 49). itptfiy *$L S +< I* " Illus. 48. " The Oak The age of these veterans is prodigious. A life of from five hundred to a thousand or more years has been estimated for an Oak — a wonderful age, but surpassed by the Yew, which, if we may credit statistics, has but < H 128 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES readied middle age at three hundred, and in abnormal instances has lived five thousand years. Effect of wind — We have spoken of the permanent habit of growth on trees subjected to habitual wind from one quarter, and for an effect of a great storm it might be well to choose such trees as models. The effect of wind on different species is by no means similar ; the slender. Birch boughs bend before it, offering no resistance ; the stiff branches of the Oak and Alder defy it ; Elm boughs sway to it, and the pendent Larch twigs swing in unison. The leaves of the Poplar, Aspen, and Willow flap up and down and also rotate. This latter spinning movement that is so characteristic of the Grey Poplar and Aspen (caused by the twisted axis of the long stalk) would be impossible for the leaves of a Chestnut, nor could it be performed by any leaves attached to the twig by sturdy or short stalks. Trees are often indices of the prevailing wind, by the heeling of the trunks and the straying of the boughs from the windy quarter. Sap- lings caught in a strong breeze bend till the stem resembles a bow, though the stiffness of the lower portion just prevents a geometrical regularity in the line ; the ends of the supple branchlets to windward cross the stem and stretch out on the lee side. A similar effect is seen on the Lombardy Poplar, though the stoutness of the trunk prevents it taking part in the manoeuvre except towards the apex. The usual appearance of a shimmer of light over the foliage of most trees is of course due to the paler colour of the under side of the leaves being exposed when they are turned over. Nearly all leaves are tinted with a paler hue on the under side, and the texture of the two sur- faces is dissimilar. A pure silver is found on the under side in one species of Willow, and many leaves that are dark and glossy on the upper side (Holly, Bay-leaved Willow, &c.) are dull beneath. So we find par- ticular greys that belong to certain trees on a windy day — a grey that belongs to the leaf but is tempered by the colour of the sky. Ruskin, in one of his tirades against the old masters of landscape, attacks Salvator Rosa for letting stiff boughs bend before a storm, and for my part I can listen peacefully to this edict ; but students — to read Ruskin with profit — require as much intelligence in sifting chaff from grain as he showed in his writing. Ruskin should be read for the pleasure derived from style in writing, and for the bias for good that will be gained from any teaching in which sincere homage and adoration of nature is the prevailing note. Modern Painters makes one think, but the first use of the thoughts should be to analyse and debate on the author's dogmas and contentions. Frost and snow. — If anyone tells you that only broad strong effects in 130 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES landscape can produce great thoughts in the spectator, go out one frosty morning and look at the Brambles and Whin bushes cobwebbed and heavy with dew, every leaf sparkling under the melting sunlight and throwing blue shadows over the stiff, rimed grass. The man who sniffs at these as " petty details " may be a good picture-maker, but was not born with the artistic instinct. The very quality of the air is a poem and every humble object a picture. Even the droop of the cobwebs overladen with moisture and the thickening of the frost-bound threads will gain a larger significance in their association with the visible atmosphere that makes the background of trees so immense under the golden haze, and the lower film of grey-blue mist cut by rays of palpitating sunlight. Another fairyland — a trifle theatrical, perhaps, though charming — is given to us at intervals when every branch is outlined white with hoar frost, the rime giving delicate shape to the smallest twigs whose form is lost under the somewhat similar appearance of powdered snow. At other times snow lies heaped on the twigs, and the uncovered part looks dark and the white twigs clumsy under their burden — and it looks so chilly and white against the snow-charged sky ! In rough weather drifts hide the boles of the trees that skirt the woods, the exposed sides of the trunks are powdered, the uncovered parts look unusually dark and strongly coloured ; all traces of man are lost then — walls, gates, and stiles lie buried out cf sight, and the excursions of the wild life of the woods can everywhere be followed by their tracks. Moonlight, — Many of the Old Masters, I think, must have studied and brought into their daylight pictures some of that grandeur and mystery that belongs to moonlight. The roadway — that in the daytime was bordered by bright flowers, sparkling leaves and reflected light, where our attention was caught by the cart ruts and hovering butterflies — has become by moonlight a mystic dark tunnel. The roadway passes into banks, and banks into foliage, without a perceptible break — just one im- mense dark but luminous shadow encircles it, with patches of broken light sufficient in places to explain the roadway, in others just enough to enhance the mystery of it. The leaves close at hand seem sharp against those behind that have taken a pale greyness unrelated to their distance ; but nothing is really sharp, and the scheme is set in dark and grey where the moonlight strikes on some really light object that looms out preternaturally white. Trees seen against the moon lose their detail, but we can distinguish most of them by the loss or comparative sharpness of the outline. Delicate young trees make a broken blur against the sky, the Birches are a haze but suggest an outline, the Oaks and Elms are at a little distance blank spaces of dark with straight-cut edges. Here and there a lighter space on trees behind shows undecided between the trunks, just enough to mark their o > PQ O «! pq - INFLUENCE OF SITUATION 131 existence, but not enough to prove their reality. The boles of those near are lost in the shadow on the ground. It is just this want of difference between level and vertical forms that is the distinguishing gulf between the day and the night. A wall by day would be a wall until it meets the ground, the shadow on the wall would have its Illus. 51. Moonlight Sketch in Charcoal by R. V. C. colour, and the shadow cast from it over the ground would also have its particular colour and tone, and the one would send reflected colour into the other. By moonlight the shadow passes over both without distinction, though there is a slight variation if the moonlight comes from one side. In a picture of moonlight allowance must be made for the supposed position of the spectator ; the strong blues that he would see if looking 132 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES at the scene from a lamp-lit room would not be there without the arti- ficial light that forces them by contrast. One should make a memor- andum of those colours that are lost or are well seen by moonlight. I have noticed bright pale yellow flowers such as Evening Primroses easily distinguishable from white flowers at a distance of thirty feet, though some intensely blue flowers were invisible and the colour of pale pink roses could only just be seen. It might be well to take all the colours of the palette (as they would be easy to refer to) and set patches of them on a board one moonlight night, and note the difference in the intensity of colour and tone in each. CHAPTER IX ASSOCIATIONS CONNECTED WITH TREES Associations are so inseparable from our conceptions of nature and art that we are unconsciously biassed, and it is difficult to gain any fresh view of either. The key to this difficulty is a consistent following up of some particular truth or beauty observed, and this can only be done, as Samuel Smiles says, by " perseverance, knowledge, and ability dili- gently cultivated." Some aspects and arrangements of nature I cannot like, nor can I see them in any other way than the one I dislike. I dislike them simply because they recall certain types of pictures that I consider bad. The very untruths or want of sympathy with nature in these pictures (such as water being represented by straight horizontal lines, or rank autumn foliage against a leaden blue-black cloud) crowd upon me and even seem to have some foundation of fact ; though to think that would be to libel nature. On the other hand, we have had our senses awakened to all the good and fine things in nature by the good and great paintings of the past and present. Even the little foibles of convention are often delightful. I can never see a picture of Oaks without a sneaking wish that I may find in it the little old woman with the red shawl. If she is not there, I wonder how the painter resisted the temptation and left her out. The concession to custom in such little touches seems the remaining link with childhood — when we repeated meaningless rhymes and drew houses with the chimney in the centre of the roof because it was the custom so to do. Any con- scious straining for originality, or any distortion of nature for the pur- pose of being thought a clever young person, or any view adopted except a sincerely personal one — though it may for the moment gain some kudos or cash — will eventually ruin any real artistic instincts and what they should lead to. But to return to our trees, is it not well to let associations guide our judgment in the matter of things unusual ? I have seen Willows high up on a mountain side — and there was no reason why they should not be there, as the place was water-logged ; still, association connects Willows with the lush meadowland among Alders and Poplars growing with King-cups, Meadow-sweet, and the Reeds of the river-side ; among the boulders of a Yorkshire moor surrounded by Ling they half lost their 133 134 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES power to please. The Wellingtonias, Deodars, and " Monkey-puzzlers " planted round new houses seem to me a blot on the landscape among the Beeches and Oaks — things to leave out ; nor would I, if I were a poet, compose a rhapsody on a Stone Pine overhanging a duck pond, but I might do so on a Willow overhanging a ditch. Yet one sees a constant disregard of association — sketches of cornfields with a neatly painted Spruce Fir strayed into the hedgerow. Alders on dry lands, and Larches on wet ones. I would rather have a picture of a Lavender bed with the nicker of butterflies and bees hovering over it — that, at least, would recall the hum of insects and the scent and warmth of a summer's day. Care without knowledge of nature may easily be the cause of life- lessness in a drawing, so that fact is substituted for the essence of life, movement, sound, and scent in as far as these can be suggested by paint. Misdirected energy may give an elaboration of leaves clear and sharp, without the suggestion of movement, and so the flicker and frolic of the pattering Aspen leaves — their chief charm— be lost. I do not think one can suggest the plaintive song of a Fir wood ; but the sway of the Lombardy Poplar or the rush of Ash foliage before the storm, and the dash of silver on Willows, Whitebeam, and Poplars, stirred by the wind, can be given. Trees, ever responsive to the moods of nature, take their proper place in the scheme. When grown on the coast they often look as though they had been caught in a gale and transfixed in the act of movement ; their heads are bent, boughs stream horizontally to the lee-side, and those on the windward side are bent back and wrapped round the trunk — a permanent record of a passing effect. Association enables us often to like forms that are unbeautiful, and we become so accustomed to the effects of cultivation on certain trees that their natural habit is not familiar. Hedgerow Elms shorn of their lower branches, pollarded Willows, copses of Sweet Chestnut, Osier beds and the Box hedges of our gardens — all seem right in their place. Many tress, whose grotesque trunks we now admire, such as the Beeches of Epping, were formerly pollarded, and have been allowed to grow their boughs in later life after continual lopping had given them trunks of quite abnormal size. The topiary art of the old gardeners — who forced their Box and Yew trees to resemble a peacock, an urn, or a pilaster — associated as it is with grottos, mazes, artificial waterfalls, and lakes, the whole bordered by living walls of evergreens, gives us a garden of pleasure in which only modern dress is an anachronism. Imagine, however, one of the Box effigies in a Beech wood ! To me this would be a parallel to that Spruce in the cornfields. Small matters are of moment in the suggestion of surroundings : a path 1 travel is bordered by Alder-Buckthorns ; and a sketch of them clustered with pale unripe berries brings back the sultry heat and the reflected glare of the orange Ife-^ ■ ''-'■■ ----- ... w .. . / ' 1 iif • O o P H X ASSOCIATIONS CONNECTED WITH TREES 135 sandstone forming the eaves of the shelving sides ; it requires no imagi- nation to see again the quivering white heat spread over the tableland and to hear the popping of the gorse pods and the rustle of a snake. I wish I could stretch a point in veracity, and say that all representations recall the scents connected with the object ; if that were so, we should renew indoors the sweet balsam scent of the Poplar buds and leaves, Illus. 52. Pollard Willow and the subtle perfume of the young Beech leaves, the fragrance of Holly and Hawthorn flowers and honey-scented Lime, the resinous sweetness of the Pine Woods and the pleasant but acrid scent of Walnut leaves. The aroma of autumn would come with a carpet of fallen leaves, and the freshness of spring in unfolding buds. But if this were so, who would dare to paint the blossom of Elderberry or Rowan, or the white stars of the Garlic ! 136 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES If the connection of scents is outside the painter's province, there is still the association of seasons with particular trees. The silver buds and golden flowers of the Sallow (Ulus. 53) and the cold white Black- thorn— forerunners of spring — are followed by the spring harmony, in which Cherry (Illus. 58), Crab Apple (Illus. 59), Wild Pear, and Plum (Illus. 54) contribute their share. The crimson and orange of the Cherry leaves, the downy silvered buds of the grey Poplar and Whitebeam, with the waxen flowers of Larch, cannot be passed by unnoticed as we watch expectant for the pink of the unfolding oak The connection between places and trees has often come about by the industries established. The osier beds of Berkshire, or the copses of Spanish Chestnut in Sussex, are now familiar features of certain districts — though the hoopers' craft is passing into neglect. They say the Yews in the churchyards were planted as a reserve for the making of archery bows, and we know that the Larch forests of Scotland were planted for the sake of the long tough timber (as recently as 1700). Association has been utilised more in the past for picture-making than is now the custom. Turner's pictures did not stop at being merely beautiful har- monies of tone, colour, and line, but contained in addition all the incidents and accidental life connected with the locality. To his mind, Greenwich was no Greenwich without the holiday-makers, and Chatham must have her soldiers ; the way they make a stone wall in Yorkshire or a fence in Surrey interested him and was part of the place ; we cannot conceive him satisfied with a picture of trees which might be grown anywhere, but were not those of the special district. Each district for him was clothed in a particular verdure, and had its idiosyn- crasies ; and the people there lived a life of their own and wore a dis- tinguishing dress. I am afraid we sometimes recognise in pictures of English scenery Millet's Barbizon peasants who must have strayed into Essex, and dainty London models carrying the milk, or little Dutch figures on the bridges of English canals. Every place is permeated with its own atmosphere literally and indirectly. The blue of the distant hills in Surrey is not the blue of the Scots mountains. Yorkshire moors in outline do not resemble the South Downs; the Alders in Wharf e- dale are distinct in character from the Alders by the Mole, and you need not wait to hear the countryman speak ; his figure, gait, dress, and con- sequence all tell of the land he toils on ; he is a literal son of the soil, moulded by his labour on it, and showing the inheritance of generations bred to a similar task. Critics tell us that the painters of the mid- Victorian period were wrong in their assiduity in the selection of the picturesque. In their day each object had its type of beauty — every detail was the best of its kind — a fence, a hedge, a gate were things in >'■'■> ; <, -.■■ ■ ■ ".■■■". . ,' ■ ■ ■■ • ■ - , ■: / . . . • ■ ,. : •■ v : ..'• : ^ , '■'■-,■; >:>.■' ■ ■ ; ; , '- ymmmmr ,'< : - - ■ / r ifdi Illus. 53. Heralds of Spring — Catkins of Sallow It 1/ %t\ M VI vA % % lS il J#: • Illus. 54. Wild Plum in Flower *4& -■. A "#SI? Illus. 55. Catkins of the Hornbeam ' Illus. 56. Unfolding Flowers and Leaves of the Sycamore %. ■f ' Illus. 57. Opening Flower Buds of a Maple Illus. 58. Bough of Cherry 144 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES themselves beautiful to look at and diligently sought for and culled from the particular district. Perhaps over-selection in objects, as over- selection in colour or line, may from its fastidiousness approach tame- ness ; but we can forgive rather easily errors of scruple that made an old piece of fencing too perfect. It seems to me more difficult to ally ourselves with those who say a white painted railing would do equally well, and add, " and it was there," as if art and the camera had gone into partnership. PART II THE ANATOMY OF A TREE CHAPTER X INTRODUCTORY Familiarity with the general aspect of the things we paint is followed after a time by a desire to learn all we can about thern. A figure painter is discontented until he has a knowledge of anatomy at his finger tips, and can recognise the period of a dress at a glance. The painter of genre pictures, from collecting bric-a-brac in his studio, becomes an authority on furniture and arms ; and the painter of gardens, a rosarian. Whilst studying shipping, the artist becomes master mariner and is learned in tides and the rake of a yacht. Landscape men dip into the science of light and the forms of water, and may be naturalists or dabblers in geology and botany in their spare moments. It may be that instinct pulls with two strings at once : one that makes us wish to paint — to paint anything and everything ; another that calls us to a particular subject that we must in some way be connected with. Perhaps it is that ambition to excel in our profession is so strong that every possible or probable study likely to aid must be acquired. Perhaps it is mere inquisitiveness. Anyhow the reason matters little, and it just remains to select those studies that will be most helpful. To learn what a tree is like and how it grows, it is not necessary to become a botanist, and I doubt whether it would be desirable, as you would then probably have to dissect a bud to find out the species it belonged to, and you would classify in groups all sorts of dissimilar looking forms. Your object, as a painter, is to know in what manner one tree differs from another in its growth, so as to recognise a type and to be able to distinguish the vagaries of individuals by their departure from that type. Surely it is interesting — if not artistically profitable — to know that one tree is female, another male, and a third the two combined in one ; and surely it is artistically profitable — if not interesting — to know that one tree bears its branches in pairs and another singly, and that a similar differ- ence is observed in the disposition of the leaves ; or that the branches in one case divide at an acute angle and form sweeping curves, while in another they form zigzag lines and divide at something near a right angle ? I know the ready answer to all this is that it is sufficient if a man paints the general look of a tree without troubling to analyse its structure, and I also know the result looks generally unlike a tree ; 147 148 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES just as a general painting of a nude figure does not generally give us a painting of the figure. I do not suggest that a student should give up time to the investiga- tion of the minutiae of trees that could otherwise be spent on the study of matters that vitally affect his art — such as effects of light and shade, combination of colour, or the relative importance of lines. To do so would be an indulgence in laborious idleness and a piece of extraordinary folly. Nor should a figure student be content to devote the most sensitive and receptive years of his life to acquiring a mechanical and accurate knowledge of the form of the human figure only. In both cases an exact knowledge of form should be acquired gradually, as the student finds he is unable to express his ideas without it. He should cultivate ideas and continuously attempt to express them in paint. His failure to draw the painting present in his mind will teach him to observe, and incessant observation and practice will teach him to draw, and he will take up the study of structure in his spare time as a means of overcoming his difficulties in drawing. Every student at an art school should, I think (after a short and very severe training in drawing), be engaged on painting a picture — his own picture — something he has evolved himself and is intensely interested in. As he paints it, problems in light and shade will occur — they can be studied separately and used for his picture. Schemes of colour will present themselves — he will have to face them ; draperies will have to be arranged, figures be studied in groups and in relation to their background instead of separately. All these are the things his mind should be employed on from the beginning, and it should be given no chance of becoming slothful by a perpetual but purposeless routine of drawing single figures on one scale with nothing in particular aimed for. From his want of energy and enterprise he obtains only the benefit of instruction from competent artists in things he could — if he meant to — teach himself ; while the very things in which their experience and artistic intuition could be of the most assistance to him are disregarded. He goes out into the world to paint pictures, equipped with a facility for drawing accurately the human figure on a sheet of paper two feet high, and a capability in painting a study of a similar size with colours that resemble the model ! The same inertness is shown out of doors, where a student will contentedly copy a foreground under a blue sky when he has already painted a grey one to his study ; or when he adds more than he has had time to observe to a sketch of a passing effect ; or, wrorse still, when he neglects to sketch momentary effects of interest because they occur at times inconvenient for painting. Efforts that should result in strenuous, searching studies are allowed to degenerate into pleasing sketches. Sketches that should be rapid and forcible statements of effect tail off into uncompleted pictures. INTRODUCTORY 149 Pictures that should be composed and carried through against all odds are neglected for purposeless copies of pieces of unselected nature. The remedy is easy. Let nothing interfere with your enthusiasm for art ; keep it more than warm, and follow up nature as a hunter would his game, always trying to compose pictures you cannot yet paint. Be absolutely truthful, but not mechanical, in everything you paint from nature. Spend less time in talking over abstract questions of art, and more in making intelligible — but not aggressive — your own bent and impulse as you find it revealed to you in nature. I have had to use my own words in this sermon, but really it is the meaning that I have gathered from reading the lives of great painters. I think it is what they would have told you to do ; so I have preached, and apologise — for my book was to tell you something about trees. I am sure good art can be achieved only by a close, loving, and continuous study. Reynolds puts it thus: "Every object which pleases must give us pleasure upon some certain principles ; but as the objects of pleasure are almost infinite, so their principles vary without end, and every man finds them out, not by felicity or successful hazard, but by care and sagacity." Again he says : " It is indisputably evident that a great part of every man's life must be employed in collecting materials for the exercise of genius. Invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory ; nothing can come of nothing ; he who has laid up no materials can produce no combinations." No doubt Sir Joshua (in this last paragraph) was thinking chiefly of main effects of colour, lighting, and action ; but throughout his teaching he insists on the necessity for closer and accurate study of form, and for perpetual work. " Though a man cannot at all times and in all places paint and draw, yet the mind can prepare itself by laying in proper materials at all times and in all places." In the next chapter we shall consider generally the difference in the outline shapes of trees; and it is a matter of some interest to notice how instinctively we look to the outline of an object to discover what that object is like. If it is smooth in surface, its unbroken outline declares it ; if it is downy, hairy, fluffy, or gritty, we note the exact difference by the outline. When things are farther off and we can no longer distinguish differences of their surface, we still cling to the habit of trying to recognise them chiefly by their outline shape. A round piece of water we conclude is a pond, an oblong piece we think may be a flooded field or part of a river. If we see a square shape of colour on the Downs we jump to the conclusion that it is a cultivated plot ; but if it is uneven in outline we suppose it may be a patch of wild flowers or weeds. It is curious how easily we recognise objects at a distance. 1.50 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES c^c ) Fig. 97 Fig. 98 1 Our mind says, " There is a cow, there some sheep ; that is a thatched cottage, that one is tiled ; there is an Elm tree, the other an Oak ! " This reads like a French exercise book, but is true and really rather wonderful ; because, on referring to the objects, you find the cow is only re- cognised by the straight line of the back and the triangle of her head and neck (Fig. 97), while the sheep are known by their curves (Fig 98). The cottage is known to be thatched because its edge is indistinct ; the eaves of the tiled roof are sharp and dark. The man we know by a little knob for a head and a lozenge for a body ; his face and neck and feet are unseen. The Elm is an Elm because it is oblong and has a top as straight as a board (Fig. 99). The Oak is not an Elm. because it is the shape of a mushroom (Fig. 100). This makes us think that our eyes must be very sensitive, and our brain unconsciously receptive but not very retentive ; because the first time vre paint ?«way from nature we shall find it hard not to give the cow some legs or to complete our man with face, and even feet, though all these things were missing in reality and the objects were just as recognisable without them. I expect the Oak and Elm painted indoors will in the end have their peculiarities smoothed over. We seem beset with the difficulty of dissociating appearances of form from our knowledge of actual form. (Figure painters often err in this : they lose the association of the ground and air with figures supposed to be outside. They are apt to miss the large half-tones that usually replace the little darks seen indoors, and to forget that the grass or uneven ground often hides the feet and throws a coloured reflected light on the legs. The edges of objects out of doors become assimilated by other things next to them, and the division is lost ; the little cast shadow under a man's boot indoors is not seen outside.) Fig. 100 CHAPTER XI OUTLINE FORMS OF TREES — A SHORT COMPARISON OF SOME SPECIES Fig. 101 Our first recognition of a tree is taken from its outline form ; and we wonder why each tree should conform so nearly to the shape of its species and why the shape of each species should be so different. We have mentioned that branches have a definite dis- tance to grow. Whilst they are reaching their limit they at first grow rapidly, and the pace is each year slackened until they cease growing. It happens therefore that young trees take more or less the form of a cone, because all the branches are young and growing at about the same pace. The main stem, however, usually grows rather quicker than the side branches; and it is this additional length in the season's growth (of the stem) that makes the tree a cone (Fig. 1C2) and not a pyramid — as it would be if the stem and the side branches increased at an equal length each year (Figs. 101, 103). The shape of the tree varies according to the distance to which the upper or lower boughs respectively spread ; also according to the comparative length of these lateral boughs with the height of the trunk, and partly to the local position of individual trees. The character is also modified or accentuated by age. In some species those boughs that are first formed — the lowest — continue to lengthen at the same rate as those formed afterwards above them (Illus. 60), consequently the lowest boughs are the longest and those above are necessarily shorter, and the form of the tree is that of a cone or a dome (Fig. 104) according to the compara- tive length of the lateral boughs with the height of the trunk. A young Spruce or a Larch is a good example of a cone formed by a 151 Fig. 102 Fig. 104 Fig. 103 152 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES long main stem and short lateral boughs that decrease in length from the longest at the base to the shortest at the apex ; while a mature Illus. 60. Holly . Fig. 105.— Thorn Oak or Thorn is conspicuous by its outline having the shape of a dome (Fig. 105). In some other species the boughs halfway up the OUTLINE FORMS OF TREES 153 Fig. 106 Fig. 107 trunk outstrip the others, then a circle would all but describe the outline ; this is seen in a Horse Chestnut. Another type is found where the boughs above the centre ex- tend farther and the tree is pear-shaped, a form often seen in the Hornbeam (Fig. 107), and exemplified, to take an extreme case, by the Stone Pine (Fig. 106). To return to our young tree. Whilst the main stem is giving out side branches — of which the lowest (because they were formed first) spread farthest, and those above are successively shorter — each side branch is giving forth its own side branchlets in a similar way, so that the tip of each is made up of a central shoot furnished with short side shoots (Fig. 108). It is natural then that there should be gaps in the outline of the tree between the extremities of each branch with its com- plement of branchlets ; and it is by these regular breaks in the outline that we recognise the second great characteristic of young trees (Illus. 61). Each side branch, then, with its branchlets should be a replica on a reduced scale of the main stem and the branches ; but the main stem is set in a vertical position, and the side branches take an inclined position (some- thing between horizontal and vertical). This of necessity is the cause of difference in construction ; because the lower branchlets would have to grow horizontally, or even downwards (Fig. 109), away from the light, and the upper ones would have to grow inwards among a mass of foliage — a thing they both avoid doing by stretching more or less obliquely (Fig. 110) towards the tip of the branch where the light is. In this way the lowest branches and their branchlets are ranged in something like one flat plane, whilst those at the tip of the tree spread in many directions away from the parent branch. As the tree becomes older, the gaps between the extremities of the boughs become filled in with newly formed branches and their branchlets ; and it becomes more and more compact as the annual Fig. 108 Fig. 109 Fig. 110 Illus. 61. The Top of a Goat Willow OUTLINE FOEMS OF TREES 155 shoots (now much shorter than formerly) fill in every available space. When taking a rough survey of trees, as we are now doing, we notice that one of the chief points of dissimilarity is caused by the angle at which the young shoot begins life, and that the position it would naturally take, when it has grown to the size of a branch, be- comes modified in the struggle for existence. Let us compare a Lombard}7 Poplar with a Black Poplar. In the Lombardy Poplar the young shoots are set at an acute angle with the parent branch ; it is so acute that the main stem, the side branches, and their branchlets are all confined within the space of a narrow cone (Illus. 62). The main stem can grow unimpeded towards the sky above it ; the side branches attempt the same thing, but their progress becomes blocked by the newly formed branches on the stem above them, so that they must either alter their course or die. Meanwhile, other little branches are being formed on the side branches at the same acute angle, and these try to grow upwards in the place occupied by the parent branch. We have, as it were, one continuous Fig. m strife, occasioned by many branches set at the same angle intent on occupying one place, and this is what happens : — The branchlets formed on the inner side oj: the branches (between them and the main stem) are soon crushed out of existence ; presently the parent branch itself to which they belonged can find no light or air, and dies ; its position is seized by a branchlet formed on the outer side ; this in turn dies, and its direction is continued by another of these outside branchlets. In this way the growth of the branch is continued by steps, and the upright position is maintained throughout, and the whole of the branches and boughs are formed within a small space. Now take the Black Poplar. Its leaves are larger, but are otherwise identical with those of the Lombardy. The young shoots of both are difficult to distinguish, but as a Fig. 112 tree it is totally unlike the other. The shoots start at a wider angle, the branches have consequently more space to expand in ; branchlets formed on the under side of the branches continue a downward course unshadowed by massed forms above ; the lower boughs spread more horizontally when they can no longer take an upward direction, and the whole tree is free-growing and made up of branches stretching in any and every direction. Every space is occupied, but there is no overcrowding. The number of branches formed on the under side of the branches and taking a downward ILLUS. 62. LOMBARDY POPLAR OUTLINE FORMS OF TREES 157 direction strikes one as unusual, until one remembers that the leaves also hang vertically instead of taking the more -usual position of lying level or turning upwards as on most trees. Now take an Oak (Illus. 63). The shoots start off, a number together, at nearly a right angle instead of at the very acute angle of Illus. 63. Oak the Lombardy Poplar. Try multiplying a number of right-angled forms, and you find they become terribly crowded. Many have to die, and some must change their direction. Eemember that the annual growth is a short one, and that the boughs are con- sequently sturdy and can hold themselves horizon- tally. Think of the dense foliage that is the cause of branches not developing on the under side, and you will now make a diagram that has something of an Oak about it and nothing that belongs to the Black Poplar, where the leaves hang separately, the boughs are long, and rather pliant and produced at wide intervals, instead of being bunched in groups. Fig. 113 158 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Compare the Oak with an Ash — you find the angles in the latter are less open ; that the branches are in pairs (each pair at right angles to the next pair) instead of in groups ; the boughs farther spaced from one another, and forming simple flowing lines in place of the complex angular arrangement ; that the boughs are more inclined upwards, and that they support pendent branches below them ; that other branches formed on the upper side curve downwards, making with their recurved tips lines of great beauty. You notice that the slighter foliage allows the branches freer play, and they are less cramped and twisted. Now look at an Elm ; it has but a few main limbs, but these rapidly divide into a mass of small twigs, much smaller than those of the Ash, and, in consequence, far more numerous. The quantity of them makes the outline unbroken ; each character- istic straight line of the outline is the termination of one bough. These straight lines are of greater length than any on the Oak, whose outline is formed of the termination of more numerous limbs, and is still farther indented by branches of leaves instead of Fi 114 individual ones more evenly distributed. The boughs do not take the easy sweep of the Ash, though there are pendent branches, but these are of a stiffer nature. What a difference there is, too, in the lighting of the foliage. The Elm exposes large surfaces that take a fairly even light ; one can trace the foliage into the recesses and notice the overlapping of the foliage-masses. The Ash offers a less massive group for the light to play on — the dis- tinction between one group and another is less definite. The Oak has the spaces broken up by the detached star-shaped bunches. A glance at a Beech shows how it retains throughout life the system arranged for it, that is seen in the new and perfect structure of its twigs ; they are very similar to the Elm twigs, and are quite unlike those of the Ash, Oak, or Poplar. The simple zigzag of the twig from bud to bud is repeated in later life throughout the flat layers of the branches, and the leaves dispose themselves in a pattern as orthodox as the twigs — not twisted hither and thither like the Oak, but lying in monotonous exactness in one plane. A cursory notice like this of four types of trees — i.e. the Ash with pairs of buds set at right angles to one another, the Oak with grouped buds, the Elm with alternate buds Fig. 115 m rows, and the Poplar with single buds starting from many points — seems necessary in order to excite curiosity and interest for a more detailed examination. There is the con- sistent perverseness of certain trees that — starting life with the same OUTLINE FORMS OF TREES 159 equipment— attain in full vigour greatly varying characteristics ; or of other species that by a perfect observance of their particular laws of growth, become intensely interesting from having done just what they were expected to do. We said that the outline of a tree was determined by the comparative length of the upper and lower boughs ; we might add that a different direction in the boughs of similar length would account for much diversity of appearance (Fig. 116). Nor should we expect trees drawn up by the shelter of plantations s' 116 to have features exactly corresponding to others which are grown in the open, or still less those found in exposed positions. CHAPTER XII THE LIKENESS BETWEEN TWIG AND BOUGH — THE DIFFERENCE BE- TWEEN SHOOT AND TWIG^-THE ARRANGEMENT OF BUDS ON THE SHOOT : (1) OPPOSITE BUDS ; (2) BUDS ARRANGED SINGLY J (3) BUDS CROWDED IN GROUPS It may seem to you, whose purpose it is to become a painter of fine landscape, of trivial importance whether the buds you see on a twig are arranged in systematic way or not. All you wish to know is how the large boughs ramify, and in what manner one species of tree is different from another. It is exactly this that you will find out from an exami- nation of buds and by following carefully the life history for a few years of those buds and the growth they give rise to. To understand this, you must know that a bud is nothing else than a young shoot with its leaves tightly compressed into a compact space ; when the shoot and leaves have broken their confinement and become fully grown, they will form the annual addition at this point to the growth of the tree. We illustrate here (Illus. 64 and 65) two shoots of different trees (Sycamore and Sallow) : you notice that the arrangement of the buds on the former and latter are quite unlike ; but if you collected a number of shoots, you would find that the buds on all the Sycamore shoots were placed in the same way as on this Sycamore shoot, and also that all the shoots on the Sallow would have their buds placed alike. Each species of tree has its buds arranged on the twig in a definite manner. There are about forty distinct species of trees, but there are not forty different methods of bud-arrangement. There are about six or seven. Each species con- forms to one or another of these plans, while every individual tree has its buds set on the plan observed by its species. Some of the arrange- ments merely differ in matters of detail, and the species they embrace can be grouped together, except when an exact representation is re- quired of the smaller parts ; then a little observation will make clear the points of deviation, or they can be ascertained by reference to a botanical treatise. There is a rather interesting cause of differentiation in the branch anatomy of some species of trees that have a precisely similar arrange- ment of buds. On one species, certain buds consistently fail to produce 160 Illus. 64. Catkin Buds of Sallow Illus. 65. Sycamore Buds Ex. : Dissimilar Bud Arrangements seen Together 162 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES a shoot, while od another species all the buds produce their shoots with an almost unfailing regularity. In this way two species, equally equipped for the formation of a similar branch system, are productive of systems that have little in common, except the young shoots that are formed each season. Nature seems unsatisfied until she has exploited every possible variety ; and other species add to the variation just mentioned yet another by giving out extra feuds in addition to those that regulate its anatomy. It would not be surprising if individual trees should " sport " and not strictly conform to the habits of their species ; but it is curious that all the individuals forming a species should consistently be wayward in following out the plan arranged for them. Since a new shoot with its buds will, in the following season, have become part of a twig (carrying in its turn new shoots), and the twig will in a few years have developed into a branch (bearing in its turn twigs and shoots), and the branch in time becomes the bough supporting the branch, twig and shoot, we should expect to find a considerable likeness between their old and young formations. Gene- rally speaking, the twig does bear a very remarkable likeness to the larger parts ; in many cases it is indeed a replica in miniature of the bough ; the predominant lines of the bough are repeated, with slight though endless variations, throughout the structure of the tree. If, on the other hand, we examine a shoot of one season's growth, and assume that each of the buds it bears will in time produce a new shoot ; and if we then compare it with a twig which represents the growth of several seasons, the result is not in all cases quite what we had taught ourselves to expect. The general resemblance between the twig and the bough of which we have spoken is modified in various acci- dental ways — by the loss of certain parts of the bough through over- crowding, by injury, by a change in the direction of growth, or by the position of some on3 part (111 us. 66). Owing to these accidents, the true character lines are often more noticeable in the twig than in the bough, a twig of two or three years' growth giving the best material qO^ for determining what are the main points of identification of its species. A study of the development of the twig from the shoot is necessary, if we are to understand the origin of those differentiating features. The first step in that study must be a classification of the various ways in which the buds arc arranged on the shoot. (1) Opposite buds. — By an arrangement very commonly Fig. 117 found, the shoot ends in a bud bearing beside it other buds, one on either side of the shoot and opposite one another. Other buds are arranged at intervals along the shoot, every bud being paired with its fellow on the opposite side of the shoot, and each pair : Illus. 66. Example of Change in Direction— Hornbeam 164 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES *$ being set at right angles to the pair above and balow it. A plan of this arrangement (as seen from the tip of the shoot) would be as follows : A. The 1st and 3rd pair of side buds. B. The 2nd and 4th pair of side buds. It is the arrangement found on a shoot of the Ash, Horse F'ff 118 Chestnut, Sycamore, Maple, Elder, Guelder-Bose, Spindle-tree, Dogwood, Wayfaring-tree, and Privet (Illus. 67) (Fig. 117). (2) Buds arranged singly. — By another ordinary method the bi%ds, instead of being in pairs, are arranged singly, though still on a definite plan. If we follow up the buds in order from base to tip of the vertical shoot, we find that each is placed a little higher up than the last ; but the points from which they spring are not in a straight J* line one above the other. ^r*' (a) In cases where they spring alternately Fig. 120 from the near and far side of the shoot, two straight lines drawn from the apex down the whole length of the shoot would cut all the buds ; a plan of this arrangement would be as follows : Buds 1, 3, 5 on one side and buds 2, 4, 6 on the other (Fig. 119). Such an arrangement is the normal one in the case of the Beech, EIm; Hazel, Lime, and Hornbeam, and occurs, though less consistently, Fig 119 on tne Birch and on upright shoots of the Sweet Fig. 121 Chestnut (Illus. 70 and Figs. 119, 120, 121). (b) In some species, however, the buds spring from three sides of the shoot, and three lines would have to be drawn from apex to base to cut through them all. f) 36 Buds 1, 4 ; Buds 2, 5 ; Buds 3, 6 (Fig. 122). This can be seen on a shoot of Alder, but it lg* * occurs on some other trees also. (c) In other cases five or even eight lines would have to be drawn down the shoot in order to ' ? \ ,** cut all the buds (Illus. 71 and Figs. 0« 124,125). 9/t The buds of the following species are arranged singly on one of the Fig. 123 Fig. 124 Fig, 125 plans thus described (under the headings of (b) and (c) : the Bird Cherry, Oak, Willows and Poplars (Illus. 71), Walnut, Apple, Plum, Pear, Cherry, Hawthorn (Illus. 70), Sloe and Alder Buckthorn. The 15 m 9 ASH S ^/CAz-AORlL **>w ELDER. Illus. 67. Opposite Buds ° t 73 D CO o o Illus. 70. Arrangement of Buds on Thorn Tree Illus. 71. Black Poplar Illus. 72. Spanish Chestnut Arrangement of Single Buds Illus. 73. Example of Clustered Buds — Spruce Fir (See Branches developed on this plan, page 183, Fig. 143) 170 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Oak (Illus. 69) and Apple and Cherry included in these are examples of buds forming five rows. (3) Buds crowded in groups. — The two arrangements described above (1 and 2), with their modifications, occur in about thirty-five species of trees ; but in some other cases the buds cluster round the shoot at certain points, and long empty spaces are left between them. Fig. 126. — Crowded buds of Spruce This is most noticeable in the Spruce (Illus. 73), (especially in th6 young trees grown in a nursery garden for " Christmas trees "), the Scots Pine, Silver Fir, and Holly. The Oak has groups of buds clustered on the tip of the shoot. A more accurate description of these " clustered " buds would be " buds arranged singly on a spiral, so short as to make them appear to radiate from points at the same level on the shoot." CHAPTER XIII Fig. 127 THE EFFECTS PRODUCED ON THE BRANCH ANATOMY OF A TREE BY (1) OPPOSITE BUDS — THE CONSTANT FAILURE OF BUDS | (2) (a) BUDS ARRANGED SINGLY IN TWO ROWS J (b) IN THREE OR MORE ROWS ; (c) BUDS CLUSTERED IN GROUPS — TWIGS ARRESTED EN GROWTH — ADDITIONAL BUDS — DIFFERENT BRANCH SYSTEMS OF YOUNG AND OLD TREES We must next examine into the effects produced by these differing bud-arrangements upon the branch anatomy of the tree. 1. Opposite buds. — Where the buds are found in opposite pairs, we should have the formal arrangement shown on Fig. ] 28 if everyone produced a new shoot in the following season. A. 1st and 3rd pair of side-shoots. B 2nd and 4th pair of side-shoots. Each of these new shoots in their turn would be furnished with buds, and in the year following would produce a similar set of shoots. Every bough would end in a central shoot set between two others like a trident (Fig. 129). This, with slight modifi- cations, is actually what happens with some of the trees already mentioned, i.e. the Sycamore, Spindle-tree, and Privet. Anyone who works out an imaginary sketch of this arrangement to represent some few years of growth will find the branches becoming inconveniently crowded. This is the result in actual fact ; some of the shoots die for want of light and air, others take an unwonted direction in search of these necessities, others again produce fruit in place of twigs. Notwith- standing these accidental modifications, the rule remains apparent. Differentiation of a more regular kind begins where the terminal Fig. 128 Fig. 129 i The base of a twig is thicker than its tip, consequently the buds at the base project farther than those above them. This is shown in the following plans. In the former plans the twig was supposed to have an equal thickness throughout its length (to save confusion). 17i 172 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES branch (the " leader " which prolongs the shoot) makes a more or less rapid growth than the side-branches. A marked deviation from the The central and pair of side shoots all growing equally Central and one side shoot not growing. Fig. 130 Central shoot dead. One side shoot growing stronger than the other. Both side shoots growing; central shoot dying. I y V II V Central and side pair of branches Curve in a stem. Sideshootas"Lead- Fork in a stem from formed as explained by dia- Side shoot act- er," other side both side brandies gram 1 A. ing as "Lead- shoot seeming to growing nearly er."SeeBII. spring from it. equally. See C III. Fig. 131 The upper illustration shows the various ways in which buds fail. The lower illustration shows the effect in each case on the branch formation. The diagrams represent an Ash. branch-type may be expected to follow where the buds in certain positions die away habitually year by year (Figs. 130, 131, andlllus. 74). Failure of buds. — If the bud at the tip of the shoot withers, the Illus. 74. Example of Growth being Arrested at the Point where Flowers are Formed — Shoot of Wayfaring Tree «3 < £ < fa o ^ o H < § PS O fe .-i CO w rt o © fc CO — • 03 w C3 bn & fa W _g H s g bD ^ .M S p.. ■ . CO & r-J ►q THE INFLUENCE OF BUDS 175 growth may be continued by the upper pair of lateral buds ; and every year we find a succession of forks, in place of the tridents which should be looked for if all three buds came to maturity. If one of the side-buds perishes, as well as the terminal bud, an angle is the result. Both these forms occur on the Guelder-Eose (Illus. 85) and the Elder. There the central bud produces a flower instead of a leaf-bud, and growth is continued by one or both Fig. 132 Fig. 133 Fig. 134 ^5*^L Illus. 76. Shoot of Cornel Showing the Two Young Shoots, ONE ON EITHER SlDE OF THE TERMINAL BUD. An EXAMPLE of the Formation of a Fork 176 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES of the side-buds. In the Guelder-Rose it is not uncommon for a whole season's growth to die back, and the branches be renewed in the following season by a fresh set of buds — a habit which results in a bush-like tree with a frame full of abrupt angles. The Horse-Chestnut, when a young tree, closely follows the plan of the Sycamore ; but before long the terminal bud is often replaced by a pair of side-buds. In old specimens, the drooping habit of the lower boughs, which must still bear upright new shoots, produces an irregularity un- mistakable by its very marked deviation from the original type. The Ash, again, starts with the same equipment of buds as the Sycamore, but its individual habit of growth soon makes an appearance (Fig. 135). One of the side-buds replaces the terminal bud, and forms a " leader," while its companion bud produces a comparatively insignificant twig. The main line of the bow is continued in this way by one of the gentle curves which are such an attrac- tive feature of the tree. 2. (a) Buds arranged singly on alternate sides of the twig. — In the trees which fall into this class, it should be noted that bud and shoot lie in one plane, which is not the case where the buds are arranged in opposite pairs. If every twig, developed from the buds, carried on this habit consistently, all the boughs would be in flat layers — after the manner of a fern ; a cursory glance at the bough of a Lime or a Beech will show how nearly this comes to pass (Illus. 77). The zig- zag line of the shoots is also a noteworthy feature. In some cases the tips recurve, either in the direction of the apex or towards the base of the spray. This is one cause of the variations found in these flat layers of twigs ; another is due to the fact that somejbuds produce minute shoots only, while others are making long lengths of young wood. It is possible, how- ever, for one of these arrested twigs (which season after season has hardly made any head way) suddenly to develop long Fig. 135 Fig. 136 Fig. 137 Illus. 77. The Arrangement of the Buds on the Elm and the Branches they give rise to m }~fc parts of the tree-struc- I fo=^> ture vary from the right I /( I angle found in an Oak Fi_ 152 to the acute one of a Birch (Fig. 152). The predominant angle, as a rule, is more obvious in the space left between the twigs than in that between the trunk and boughs. In the latter case the sharpness of the angle becomes lost by a yearly addition to the girth of the limbs and trunk, and a sort v Fig. 150 Fig. 151 V Y r Fig. 153 Fig. 154 HOW A TREE IS BUILT UP 189 of bracket between the two is formed (Fig. 153). In some species the smaller forms are joined to the larger by a gentle curve — Ex. : Holly Illus. 85. Example of Growth Continued by a Few of the Buds — Guelder- Eose (Fig. 153). In other species the junction is formed by nearly straight lines (Fig. 151). POPLAK. Illus. 86. The Grey Poplar Tllus. 87. The Boughs of an old Spanish Chestnut ^e» Illus. 88. Branch System of an Apple Tree HOW A TREE IS BUILT UP 193 The proportion of boughs, branches, and twigs. — The gradation in girth from trunk to bough, bough to branch, and branch to twig is carried out by regular stages step by step (Fig. 155). The trunk (if one excepts the bole) is of equal thickness throughout t\ / its length until it gives forth a bough. Its next length (diminished in thickness) is again of even width up to the point where the next bough springs. It is noticeable that if a drawing were made of the portion of the trunk that above the bough, an increased thickness of the trunk below would have to be added on the side under the bough (Fig. 156). This even gradation from large to small forms gives delicate lines of ^ig. 155 great charm, and is especially noticeable in the case of the Goat Willow, the Birch, and the Ash, though the rule is found in all trees. The trunks of some conifers Fig. 156 (especially those of the Spruce and Larch) appear at first sight not to observe the rule ; they seem to taper from the base upwards, instead of being reduced in girth stage by stage, after the fashion of a telescope (Fig. 157). This tapering appearance is partly due to the lack of branches (that in other trees would accentuate the successive reductions in the thickness (Fig. 158)), and partly to the shortness of the Fig. 157 Fig. 158 lengths of trunk between the scars that mark the position of former branches, so that the stages by which the trunk was diminished are hardly apparent Fig. 159 (Fig. 159). It may be stated on a rough calculation that, when a trunk divides, the limbs of the fork measure together rather more in diameter than the trunk below the division (Fig. 160). If the main limbs of a tree are conspicuous, and the boughs suddenly ramify into a great number of twigs, the whole effect will be vastly different from that of a tree where the twigs are fewer in number ; as in the latter case the succession from the large to the smallest part is is more gradual (Fig. 161). A comparison of the anatomy of an Elm and an Ash will show the importance of this observation. The position taken by twigs. — The rigidity or flexibility of twigs accounts for some variations in the position of future boughs. One sees N Fig. 160 Fig. 161 194 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES the supple shoot of a Scots Pine bent with the weight of the cones ; also the shoots of a Birch unable to hold themselves upright under their slight burden of catkin-fruited twigs (Illu*. 90). From the upper side of such pendent branchlets new buds give life to sturdy twigs, which, in turn, Fig. 162. — Hanging Bough of Pear bend down and add new leverage to the parent branchlet. In this way a succession of curved steps, as it were, are formed, leading the branch outward curve by curve. This becomes a more noteworthy feature as time goes on ; for the few branchlets that were formed on the inner side of the pendent branch die away for want of light. On the other hand, the rigid shoots of an Oak or an Ash can hold themselves in a position Illus. 89. Example of Gradation from Large to Small Branches (Bay-Leaved Willow) Illus. 90. Twigs of Birch weighed down by Catkins Illus. 91. Pendent Branch of Apple Tree in Flower 198 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES unattainable by the supple twigs of the former trees. It is not implied that pendent branches formed in the manner described are only to be found on trees with flexible twigs ; for the lower boughs of Pear trees are commonly constructed on this plan ; though here it may also be conjectured that the unusual weight of the fruitage may be in part responsible for the position. PART III DETAILS CHAPTER XV INTRODUCTORY Everything that fosters admiration for trie objects we paint should be exploited. Our natural delight in the exquisite forms of buds, flowers, twigs, and leaves should not be checked by looking upon them as details with which we have no concern ; rather we should look upon them as the delightful ornaments that deck our idol with a new fascination for each passing season (Illus. 92). Every year we find new cause for happi- ness in the growing buds, unfolding leaves, and the shaping of blossom. We add to our pleasure in these things by tracing their development. We cannot but wonder at the manifestation of the perfect mechanism that enables a small bud to contain during the winter a complete set of leaves, stem and flowers, and to unpack them in regular order at the coming of Spring.1 Then we watch the unfolding of layers of crumpled up leaves as they emerge from the bud, each still nursed by a protecting stipule ; and see them take an unwonted position to protect themselves from cold or when they sleep (Illus. 93). We note their change in colour and texture, month by month, until the fall, when the delicate greys and daintiness of form of the bare twigs seems even more satisfactory than the full richness of summer. The understanding of how a tree grows from a seed will not help us to paint trees any better ; but we may gain by it an added interest to counteract some dry details of construction that are of importance to us in our art. For instance, the Sycamore has its seed encased in two round balls linked together at the base by a pair of wings. This winged fruit, when ripe, comes spinning through the air, and lands some distance from the tree. The radicle (little root) appears, and soon pushes its way into the ground, and the seed case is lifted into the air by the growing stem. In it are the pair of seed-leaves, lying face to face and rolled up in a ball. Soon they push the husk off and unroll themselves, until presently they are spread apart like bands of narrow green pointed riband in the shape of a V. Next, the first pair of real leaves appear between them ; but these only show the rudiments of the lobes so characteristic of the 1 " We apply the word ' bud ' to an assemblage of undeveloped leaves, placed on a short axis about to develop itself into a branch." This concise and pleasing definition is taken from Wilson's translation of botany by Jussieu. 201 202 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES perfect leaves. The next pair of leaves resemble the mature ones more closely, and it should be noted that the pairs of leaves are set at right angles to one another. It is a remarkable thing that in this little tree, a few inches only in height and a week or two old, the chief char- acter of the whole tree should have already asserted itself (as shown Illus. 92. Opening Flower Buds of Guelder-Rose Observe the exquisite precision of each part set at right angles with its neighbour, and the decorative shapes in branches and leaves being arranged in pairs, each pair at right angles to the next). In other trees besides Sycamores the leaf buds afford a wonderful example of the ingenuity displayed by nature in all her arrangements. There is pleasure in noting the many different ways in which leaves are packed in the bud, so as to conform to its rounded shape and yet to DETAILS OF TREES 203 take up the least possible space. Some are rolled up like a spill, others folded like a fan, others folded in half ; every possible device seems to have been made use of, not only in the folding up of individual leaves, but in the precise order in which the layers of them are packed together (see Chap. XVII., Figs. 175-182). The methods of protection of these young leaves during the winter are equally diverse ; some are packed in wool, others varnished with a gum, or are protected by Illus. 93.- Wayfaring Tree The unpacking of leaves at the coming of Spring stipules that fall off as soon as their mission has been brought to con- clusion (Illus. 94, 95) ; but the care exercised over some buds begins in the summer, when they lie snugly hid at the base of the leaf-stalks. Many beautiful effects and forms are provided by the means of dis- persion that is given to seeds. The winged forms of the Hornbeam, Maple, Ash, Sycamore, and Lime are in themselves beautiful, and are interesting as showing means of conveyance by the wind. The down arid tufts of hairs to which fruits of some Willows are attached give the trees an uncommon and interesting appearance at the Illus. 94 and 95. The Protection of Horse Chestnut Buds by Varnished Scales and Lining of Wool WYCH ELM Illus. 9G. Young Leaves and Fruit of the Wych Elm Notice how the buds turn downwards, and the folding of the leaves *"* may* *7 A Illus. 97. The Down that covers one of the Lesser Willows when the Seeds are Liberated. DETAILS OF TREES 207 time they ripen (Illus. 97). The flowers or fruits on all trees are con- spicuous at some time of the year ; and our pleasure in them need not be confined to the most outstanding, such as the delicate Apple or Larch blossom, or the gay Cherry, Hawthorn, or Horse Chestnut. There are others less shapely in themselves, yet capable of changing the whole appearance of the tree. This the catkins of many trees do, particularly those on the Hornbeam, Spanish Chestnut, and Alder ; the Hazel or Birch without their " lambs' tails " would have lost something of their power to charm. We see dark Hollies changed to white by the profusion of the blossom, the Scots Pines dusted with yellow pollen, Eowan trees and Hawthorns painted scarlet and crimson with their fruit, Ash trees tufted with bloom — as Gilpin puts it, " in such profusion as to thicken and enrich the spray exceedingly, even to the fulness almost of foliage " 1 — we could continue the list till hardly a tree was excepted. What a mass of material in the shapes of tree-flowers and leaves lies to hand for the decorator ! In the blossom of the Holly alone are found four distinct shapes of geometrical precision (Chap. XIX., Figs. 269, 270). One is apt to look at a leaf, and notice that it is long and narrow, or short and rounded ; but one forgets to ask oneself why it is given that shape, and yet a little inquiry shows that the shape of the leaf coincides with its method of attachment to the twig. We owe much to the men who have made the common facts of life interesting to us, and to none more in this connection than Lord Avebury,2 who in such books as Buds and Stijndes ; Leaves, Flower, and Fruits brings home to us the perfect construction of nature, even in her smallest formations. Buds are not mere lifeless cases con- taining young leaves. Not only do they lengthen and become fuller, as we should expect, with the young growth within them, but they move — some curve towards the twigs, others away from it, others turn upwards and downwards. Some are constructed of dry scales that wither and fall off as the leaves emerge, others are uiade up of stipules that lengthen with the leaves ; those of the Sycamore and Norway Maple attain a considerable size ; the latter take a rich scarlet colour when exposed. Cones are interesting from the exactness of their construction, and if we follow the spirals of imbricated scales we find that the cones of all the Pines are not alike in those spiral arrangements. Nature in every detail displays variations of a great plan that is in itself different from other plans. In the words of Euskin, " they seem perpetually to tempt our watchfulness and take delight in outstripping our wonder." 3 Gilpin's Forest Scenery, 1808. 2 Better known from his writings as Sir John Lubbock. CHAPTER XVI LEAVES — THE WAY LEAVES ARE SET ON THE TWIGS '. (a) EIGHT-ANGLED PAIRS ; (b) ARRANGED SINGLY IN TWO ROWS J (c) IN MORE THAN TWO ROWS ; (d) LEAVES CLUSTERED THE POSITION OF YOUNG AND OLD LEAVES — LEAF-STALKS AND HOW LEAVES ARE SET ON THE TWIGS — DURATION OF LEAVES To enable leaves to perform their function of assimilation, it is neces- sary that each should be placed so that its surface is exposed to the light and air. This is effected by methods that are quite distinct. Certain species may conform to one system, other species may be governed by a different system ; but individual trees habitu- ally conform to the method that governs their species, subject to some modifications that we shall explain presently. The greatest amount of light would fall on a leaf lying in a horizontal position or nearly so (Illus. 98). This is actually the position of leaves on the majority of trees, though different methods of attaining this position are em- ployed. We are acquainted with the various ways in which buds are arranged on the shoots, and the set of the leaves coincides with them. The reason for this is that the buds (destined in the following year to produce new shoots) are formed in the angle between the leaf-stalk and the twig. (a) Right-angled pairs. — To take first those trees with pairs of buds set at right angles to one another — the Ash, Horse Chestnut, Sycamore, Maple, Guelder-Rose, Spindle, Dogwood, Wayfaring ^ tree, and Privet — it is merely necessary to substitute Y> leaves for buds, when the arrangements already de- I scribed will answer for those of the leaves also. We bh) *p~~ V*1* have this plan which depicts an upright shoot seen I from its tip (Fig. 163). ^y A A — 1st and 3rd pair of leaves. A B B — 2nd and 4th pair of leaves. Fig. 163 SH — Shoot to which the leaf-stalks are attached. If the alternate pairs of leaves (viz. A A, B B) were exactly under one another, they would not receive the full amount of light and air ; the stalks of the lower, therefore, are suc- 208 Illus. 98. A Bough of an Apple Tree showing the more or less Horizontal Position of the Leaves o Fig. 164 Fig. 165 210 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES cessively longer than those of the upper, and then the appearance of a shoot seen from its tip is this (Fig. 164), and the side view of this arrangement would iook like this (Fig. 165). The shoots on these trees are more or less vertical ; if they were horizontal, leaves would come directly and close under other leaves, and the arrange- ment would no longer be effec- tive. It will also be noticed that there are long spaces on the shoot between the points from which each pair of loaf-stalks spring, so that the rays of light play on the lower leaves, and they are not in the shade of those above them (Fig. 166). The Horse Chestnut is conspicuous from carrying the lower boughs in a drooping position, but the branchlets and tips recurve upwards. In this way the leaves are still set on a nearly vertical shoot. On the other hand, the Ash also has many pendent branches, and the leaves are often carried on a hori- zontal shoot instead of a vertical one. The reason for this probably lies in difference of construction of the leaf ; the leaflets of the Horse Chestnut are heavy, larger, and entire ; Ash leaves are lighter, narrower, and broken up into small leaflets, so that the light is able to pass between the gaps in the leaves, and the same precaution against shading is unnecessary. It should be remarked that three of the trees of this fL.1? group have leaves composed of leaflets, i.e. Horse Chestnut, Ash, Elder, and that five of them carry large leaves, i.e. Horse Chestnut, Ash, Elder, Guelder -Rose, Way- faring tree. The Field Maple, with its small leaves, is an exception. The Privet, Spindle, and Cornel have small opposite leaves, but then they hardly exceed the dimensions of a bush. The Buckthorn has its leaves in right-angled pairs, but one leaf of a pair is commonly slightly lower than the other. We have pointed out the necessity for right-angled pairs of leaves -In the upper dia- gram the widely-spaced leaves avoid the shadow seen in the lower diagram. The arrow represents the light LEAVES— THEIR POSITION 211 Fig. 167.— The way in which a difficulty is overcome to be carried on a (nearly) verical shoot ; but the lower branches of these trees are arranged at some angle with the stem that varies from 90° to 45°. So if the branchlets, to which they give rise, followed the system that governs the tree (i.e. pairs of branches set at right angles to one another , only one branchlet out of every alternate pair would be point- ing upwards, and its fellow would be actually pointing downwards ; the rest would be in the same plane as the branch itself (Fig. 167). This difficulty is in some cases overcome (to take a Field Maple as an example) by these nearly horizontal branches carrying a number of very short branchlets all pointing upwrards — a posi- tion attained by those which are on the under side of the branch curving round it till they become vertical. Another obvious advantage of the shortened shoots is that they do not become cramped by the branches above them, but allow the leaves they carry to obtain their share of the light. Occasionally, however, this manoeuvre is unsuitable, and a totally different one (which we illustrate) is enacted. The twig remains horizontal, but the leaf-stalks twist until they have arranged the leaves in a flat layer, after the fashion of Beech leaves (Fig. 168). In our illustration leaf B has moved across the twig as no vacant space existed on its proper side. Fig. 169 shows the normal arrangement of Maple leaves on a vertical twig. (b) Leaves arranged singly in two rows. — Taking, next, the trees with alternate leaves set singly in two rows, we find a totally different arrangement. The twigs form flat, more or less horizontal, layers ; and in the case of the lowest boughs they droop. The leaves are arranged all in one plane with these twigs, as if they had been pressed under a weight (Fig. 170). This is conspicuously the case with the Beech and the Hornbeam (Fig. 171, Illus. 99), and hardly less so with the Hazel and the Lime. It also occurs on vigorous young shoots of the Elm when it is young ; but it is less noticeable on the shorter twigs that are formed when the tree is older. It will be seen that the leaves of this group have short stalks, and are rounded or egg-shaped in form ; also that the nodes on the shoot from which they rise are set near together — in fact, just near enough to allow each leaf to be next its neighbour without overlapping, but with no wasted space between. Elm leaves are borne on a nearly straight shoot, Beech leaves on one H O H Pi W M o w 1 < ' !v -£•<$$ ' ... <* , ■ m "ill O W ft E* o QQ a <3 W o 232 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TRIBES Texture of leaves. — The texture of the leaves plays an important part when the trees are seen close at hand. The transparency of a young Illus. 112. Young Leaves of the Field Maple Compare their limp attitude with that of the mature leaves illustrated Chap. XX, Illus. 136 Beech leal in one position through which the sun shines — so sweet and gay in colour — looks nearly white in another position, from its silky LEAVES— THEIR FORM AND TEXTURE 233 surface. The glitter from the polished Holly leaves takes many tints in response to the changing sky, to which the gritty surface of an Elm or Hazel leaf is less responsive. The thick leathery texture of the Privet, Box, Holly, and Holm Oak, the furry or downy-coated under sides of the Whitebeam, White Poplar, and Wayfaring tree are all worth obser- vation. Colour of leaves. — The local colour of leaves seems to defy descrip- tion, for the hairs on one, the gloss on another, gather so much of the sky colour as to lose the individual colour that might apply to them when seen indoors ; but since the leaves of each species are consistently dull, glossy, granulated, or hairy, they never lose their identity. It must be remembered, however, that in some species young leaves have a gloss that is lost as they mature (example, Sycamore, Beech), and that others start life with a coat of fur and become smooth (example Plane). The light can pass through some leaves when they are young only, as is the case with Holly leaves. It seems superfluous to add that the local colour of leaves is different in spring, summer, and autumn. Leaf Patterns : (a) Of conifers. — Most of the conifers agree in having leaves remarkably narrow for their length. The leaves of the Spruce (Fir tribe) are needle-shaped and angular, those of the Silver Fir and the Yew are flat, while those of the Scots and Austrian Pines have one side convex and the other flat. The species vary between a blunt leaf and one sharply pointed. Yew leaves are curved, Larch leaves are straight. Deciduous trees (with the exception of the Larch) have their leaves in the form of a more or less thin blade, instead of the needle form of the conifers. Leaf patterns of deciduous trees. — On some deciduous trees the leaf- blade is long and narrow ; conspicuous examples occur in several of the Willows, the Privet, the Almond, and less noticeably in the leaflets of the Ash, Mountain Ash, and some leaves of the Blackthorn and the Spindle. The Cherry and the Sweet Chestnut take a more elliptic form. The chief character of many of the foregoing depends upon whether the base or the tip, or both, tapers or has a more or less blunt ending. Some leaves might almost be enclosed by a circle ; this is seen chiefly in those of the Aspen and often of the Grey Poplar, and in some leaves of Hazel and Lime. A triangle (set with the leaf -stalk joining the centre of its base) would be the guiding form for leaves of several species, i.e. the Birch, Black Poplar, Lombardy Poplar, and some leaves of the Maple, Planes, White Poplar, and Hawthorn. Some of the leaves of the Lime and of the Black and Lombardy Poplar bear the shape of a conventional heart. The outline of an egg with the leaf -stalk joining the stoutest end is seen in the Pear, Apple, Goat Willow, Elm, Cornel, Beech, and Buckthorn. The same form — but usually with a more 231 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES elongated tip — is found in the Wayfaring tree and the Whitebeam. The egg reversed would describe the leaf of the Wych Elm and the Spindle, GREY POPLAR Illus. 113. Wool-covered Leaves of Grey Poplar (See Chap. XVI, Illus. 102, for the position and texture of the mature leaves. For shape of leaf see page 241, (C) of " Leaf Patterns," in this chapter) though the latter has a sharp tip added. An oval describes the leaflets of the Walnut and the broadest leaves of the Blackthorn. A more LEAVES— THEIR FORM AND TEXTURE 235 Fig. 183 Fig. 184 unusual form is found in the leaf which has a blunt tip and tapers to the leaf-stalk like a tennis racket. This form distinguishes the Alder and many leaves of the Alder-Buckthorn. The Hazel leaf has this shape with a short-pointed tip added, and the base often ends in small lobes ; the leaves on an individual tree vary so much in form that an oval (or egg form) set either way might equally well describe them. However, the foregoing descriptions, with the leaf plans illustrated before one, should explain the chief difference of the species. (See " Leaf Patterns," Figs. 200-250.) If a leaf is folded at the midrib, the two halves are usually found to be similar ; but in some trees the leaves are lop-sided (Fig. 183), as is seen in the Elm, Lime, and Oak. Some Willow leaves, instead of having the central rib straight from tip to base, have it bowed to one side ; consequently the outline of the leaf is convex on one side and concave on the other (Fig. 184). The Margin. — The outline of a leaf may be smooth and unbroken, as is seen in the Privet, Scots Pine, Yew, Larch, Medlar, Cornel, Box, and others (Fig. 185 (1)). More often, projections are formed, where the secondary ribs (those given off by the central rib) reach the margin. The points on the margin may be very sharp, and the spaces between them deeply fluted like a fish's fin, as in the Sweet Chestnut and in some leaves of the Plane ; or less sharp and the fluting shallower — like a fan, as happens in a Beech leaf. In the Grey Poplar and the Aspen, the projections and hollows are sometimes rounded like a cog-wheel, and more often like a toothed wheel. In most leaves the margin is toothed like a saw (Fig. 185 (2)) (the handle of the saw being at the leaf-stalk), as in the Black Poplar, Mountain Ash, Ash, Apple, Alder, some Willows, &c. The teeth themselves may be furnished with small teeth, as are those of the Hornbeam, Birch, Elm, Lime, Horse Chestnut, Hazel, Cherry. The teeth, instead of being set saw-like, may point outwards, as in the Wayfaring tree. The leaf may be deeply scalloped between the secondary ribs, thus forming the characteristic lobes of the Oak (Fig. 185 (5)) ; or, if the incision reaches the midrib, separate leaflets result, as in the Ash. The incisions may be between several main ribs that radiate from the junction of leaf and stalk (Fig. 186) ; /|V X t^t^J ||bb||]v i s*w»fe r i iflhs. o TtoKtj. { \ Mrfk\ " sc-'<*/-"l \wli\k 4" Si~""'r •Bmlffl mill I ^A. 6 J...t««^< KX^^^Vj^ ^^^^ |>^Qy^S^X\V lu^r^CM WALNUT Fig. 244. —Leaf Plan " F " The diagran is half the size of the real leaf Fig. 245.— Leaf Plan " G " The diagram is half the size of the real leaf SYCAMORE REDUCED BY THREE FOURTHS chWZ Figs. 248-250.— Leaf Plans " I " Reaves reduced by one half except the Sycamore leaf CHAPTER XVIII THE WAY FLOWERS ARE ARRANGED The mode in which flowers are arranged is called the inflorescence. There are two distinct kinds of inflorescence, and to one or the other of these belong the various arrangements of flowers to which distinctive names have been given : (1) Indefinite inflorescence (Fig. 251). This term is used to explain that the main axis of the flower " indefinite " type. Lateral stalks ter- minated by a flower. Stalks not branched •• definite " type. Terminal flower to main axis and to lateral stalks w system is not terminated by a flower ; but that the main axis gives rise to lateral stalks, each terminated by a flower. (2) Definite inflorescence (Fig. 252). This term, as its name implies, is used when the Fig. 251. — Simple Fig. 252. — Simple main axis (as well as the lateral stalks) is terminated by a flower. One of the most important differences in these two systems is seen in the comparative succession in which the flower-buds open out into flowers ; and it will save confusion if we confine ourselves first to an explanation of these different effects. (1) Indefinite Inflorescence. — In this system, the main axis gives off flowers in succession from the side of the growing point of the axis until it ceases growing. If the main axis is so short that the lateral stalks bearing flowers seem to radiate from one point (Fig. 253), the buds on the outer stalks will be the first to open into flowers ; while the buds in the centre of the mass (because they are the newest formed) will be the last to open. The same order in the expansion of the flowers takes place when the main axis is not shortened ; but the cessivelv shorter towards its tip, so that they and those below on 248 Fig. 253 Fig. 254 flower stalks are sue- v Fig. 256 — Definite one or the Y Fig. 257 FLOWERS, HOW THEY ARE ARRANGED 249 lmger stalks are brought up to the same level (Fig. 254). If the main axis is lengthened (and the lower flower stalks are not elongated as in the last example), the flowers at the base of the axis will be the first to open, followed successively by others to the tip of the axis, where buds are newly formed (Fig. £55). (2) Definite Inflorescence. — In this system (Fig. 256), the flower-bud terminating the main axis is the first to develop, and is followed by others formed below it. These spring from the axils on the main axis, or from the axils on the secondary stalks. In the latter case, each secondary stalk — with its branchings — follows the same plan of the central flower, developing before FlS- 255 the outer ones (Fig. 257). Various arrangements are the result of ^(f ?i& other of these indefinite or definite types. •\^>JlS (1) Indefinite Inflorescence.— Taking first the (1) In- definite Inflorescence, we find it broadly divided into arrangements known as Eaceme, Catkin, Corymb, Umbel, and Capitum. The term Raceme is applied when a central growing stalk bears on its sides axillary stalks tipped with flowers stalks are produced successively, and carry a bract at their base (Fig. 258). The Bird Cherry inflorescence (Illus. 109, p. 229), with its long central stalk and its stalked flowers developing successively from the base of the main stalk to its tip, where buds are still forming, is a good example ; the Sycamore (Illus. 115), Acacia, Laburnum, and Field Maple are others. The axillary stalks on a raceme are of nearly equal length. When a raceme is compound — by some of the secondary axes being branched — it is called a Panicle. The Catkin consists of a main stalk that is deciduous, having attached to it, without stalks of their own, the unisexual flowers. Catkins are carried by the Poplars, Willows, Hazel, Sweet Chestnut, Birch, Alder, Oak, WTalnut, and Plane (Illus. 66, 90; 117-119; 129-140, pp. 163, 196; 252-254; 272-277; 281, 286). Poplar catkins are pendent, while in most of the Willows they are erect. The catkins of the Poplar consist entirely of male or female organs. The Sweet Chestnut catkins carry the male flowers on the base portion, and from there to the tip the female flowers. On the Hazel, Oak, and Walnut, it is only the male flowers that are produced as catkins. The Capitum , — The Plane has the male and female flowers com- These Fig. 258.— Kacerne Main axis lonjr, lateral axes equal in length 1 Illus. 115, Example of Raceme — Sycamore Flowers H Pi o H -2 □Q 252 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES pressed to a ball, suspended by the catkin stalk ; like beads threaded at intervals on a string, the arrangement is known as a " Capitum " (Illus. 120). Illus. 117. Example of Catkin — The Hazel The Corymb. — If you make a drawing of a raceme, and then alter the length of the axillary stalks — making those at the base the longest and the rest successively shorter to the tip, so that they carry their Illus. 118. Example of Erect Catkin— Male Flower of an Osier Illus. 119. Example of Hanging Catkins. The Female Flowers of the Black Poplar -.-•• '"" ■ ' I ..*■■ i? Illus. 120. Example of a Capitum on Catkin Stalk. The Catkins of the Plane Tree (For earlier stage of development see Chap. XXI, p. 304) Illus. 121. Example of Corymb— Hawthorn Blossom < n M O W H h o 02 N W O Illus. 123. Example of Panicled Cyme — Flower Head of the Privet ■■f--- Illus. 124. Example of Cyme— Lime Tree 260 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES r. Fig 279.— Spindle^ 2 5<"a.tn€T»S yvvERTEO Fig. 278. — Guelder-Rose Fig. 280.— S j cam ore Fig. 281. — Horse Chestnut f ^\ \i // ^ V v LU sOfisT^Qr^ :'!) / f " lira ^«I^n \ fl 20 S/"n.»n*J25 Fig. 282.— Pear. Fig. 283.— Walnut Fig. 284.— Buckthorn [Catharticns] Female Flower B. Figs. 278-284. — The Shape of Flowers on some Trees (.*,ft-,tt ) *»J> II > *ee/u Fig. 285.— Cherry •fB jo seon»«»5 Pti//^ FtovveB.1 fi«£P Fig. 286. — Plum veuow tfftee/v Fig. 287 —Lime Gcrp Fig. 288.— Maple Fig. 289.— Wayfaring Tree C. Figs. 285-289. — The Shape of Flowers on some Trees INDEX TO A. B. C. Blackthorn . . 277a Hawthorn . . . 274a Bird Cbfrry . 271a Holly . . . 269-270A Buckthorn . . 284b Horse Chestnut . 281b Cornel . . . 275a Lime 287c Cherry . . . 285c Maple 288c Elder . . . . 272A Pear 282b Guelm R-ROSE . 278b Rowan 276a Spindle .... 279b Sycamore . . .' . 280b Whitebeam . . .273a Wayfaring Tree . 289c Walnut (f) . . . 283b FLOWERS, THEIR SHAPE 269 and Hazel — in these the ovary is divided into separate cells ; examples of Simple Pistils, by the flowers of the Plum and Cherry. A complete flower, such as we have described, contains within itself the necessary fertilising medium (pollen), also the ovules capable of being fertilised. Fecundation may be effected by the pollen being dropped direct on to the viscid surface of the stigma, that retains it ; but it is a curious fact that this is not of common occurrence. It is more inter- esting that the prevention of self- fertilisation is brought about by the habits of the flowers. Some flowers mature the stigma before the pollen is ripe (example, Birch), others allow the pollen to ripen and be dispersed before the stigma is ready to receive it. In these cases, cross-fertilisa- tion between different trees has to be effected ; and we recognise the use of the gay colouring of the petals and the sweet scents of flowers in attracting insects that may act as transferring agents from one tree to another. The pollen of those flowers which are not endowed with bright- coloured petals is usually carried by the wind, as happens with the Scots Pine, Spanish Chestnut, Yew, and Oak. Lubbock has pointed out that flowers are the most susceptible to fertilisation from the pollen of the flower of another tree. Cross-fertilisation, it seems, is beneficial ; and is the rule rather than the exception. The bearing on the forms of flowers leads to great diversity of construction. (Figs. 269-289, pp. 266-8.) The flowers on some species of tree are " complete," as we have described. In other species the flowers on individual trees contain either the male organs or the female organs, but not both, though they may carry calyx and corolla. In other cases the flowers on all the indi- vidual trees of a species consist of nothing but the simple functionary organs. Again, in some species, individual trees bear both " complete" and unisexual flowers — sometimes separately on distinct branches, at other times grouped together in the same flower-cluster. Instances even have been noticed in which a branch would bear one type of flower one year, and another type in the following year, but this is exceptional. In some flowers the calyx and corolla are missing (example, Ash, Fig. 290) ; in some units \ of a flower-cluster it is the stamens and pistil that are missing, as in the outer circle of the Guelder-Rose (when the flower is called neuter). On many trees the flowers have neither calyx nor corolla, but consist of a scale and stamens (Figs. 291, 293), or a scale and pistil (Figs. 292, 294). This is the rule in the Fig. 290 Fig. 291 Fig. 292 Fig. 293 — Stamens only •;■ iiii 1§I mi Illus. 128. Flowers of the Guelder-Rose "Neuter" Flower in Circle enclosing " Complete Flowers " — Example of two Types contained in one Cluster FLOWERS, THEIR SHAPE 271 Willows and Poplars ; and a still more elementary form is shown in the Pines and Firs — either of a scale bearing a pair of anther lobes, or a scale carrying two naked ovules without any style or stigma. The terms given to these different forms are (1) Complete — when the calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils are present ; (2) Incomplete — when either calyx or corolla, or both, are missing, but stamens and pistil are present ; (3) Male — when the stamens are present, but not the pistil ; (4) Female when the pistil is present but not the stamens ; (5) Bisexual Fig. 294 — when both the stamens and pistil are present. When the individual tree bears both " Male " and " Female " blos- soms, it is said to be Monoecious (examples, Birch, Hazel, Alder, Oak). The male organs must be in one flower, the female organs in another, but not both combined in the same flower. If the individual tree bears either " Male " or " Female " blossoms, but not both, it is Dioecious (examples, Buckthorn, Poplars, Willows). (When Bisexual, Male, and Female blossoms are on distinct trees ; the term used is Tricecious, as in the Spindle tree.) (4) More rarely the tree bears Bisexual flowers as well as unisexual flowers, so that some florets have the organs of both sexes and other florets the organ of one sex only ; this is described as Polygamous. Sometimes the bisexual florets will be on one tree, and the unisexual florets on another tree of the same species. The Ash is a good example ; one individual tree may bear only male flowers, another individual tree may carry only female flowers, while a third may carry both bisexual and unisexual flowers. It is said that the same branch on an Ash tree may produce different types of flowers in different years. Holly trees are usually dioecious, but sometimes polygamous. The individual florets of many flowers are themselves inconspicuous, though the flower-cluster may make a brave show. The appearance of some tree flowers bears so little resemblance to our notion of a flower that it is difficult to recognise them as such. The complete flowers of the delicate Apple blossom ; the swagger pyramids of florets on the Horse Chestnut ; even the little star-shaped flowers of the Spindle with petals of humble green, we immediately recognise as flowers. Other examples are Hawthorn, Cornel, Wayfaring tree, Elder, Whitebeam, Cherry, Bird Cherry, Mountain Ash, Pear, Lime. Some of the incomplete flowers also remind us of the flowers of our garden, since they have petals, though other parts are missing ; for instance, the Buckthorn and Holly, where the male and female organs are on separate flowers. In others we see little resemblance ; such as in the catkins of the Birch, Willow, Oak, Sweet Chestnut, the Alder, Illus. 129. Catkins of the Hornbeam Illus. 130, The Hairy Catkins of the Aspen ^P'tfj o i— i W H <1 o w a o a M -r Illus. 133. Female Flowers of Walnut — Example of a " Moncecious " Tree Illus. 134. Male Catkins of Walnut 278 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Hazel, and Hornbeam, or in the tassels of the Beech and budlike clusters of the Ash. Many of these flowers, however, from their colour, or profusion, affect the appearance of the tree as a whole. The Alder and Hazel " lambstails," and the clothing of purple-red flowers on the Elms, that come to the call of Spring, the sulphur catkins that cover the Birch ; and the gilded balls of the Goat Willow, sweet in scent and musical with the sound of countless bees before winter has waned, are each in their turn landmarks of the country. The crimson catkins of the Black Poplar give colour to the trees and the earth below, and the tiny ruby gems of the female Hazel flower, and the rose and white stigmas on the Walnut, are worth the seeking. The Scots Pine, prolific with its pollen, dusts all around with its sulphur-coloured clouds. Individual trees of the following species bear either male or female flowers (not both) — the Willow, Poplar, and Aspen. Individual trees of the following bear separate flowers of both sexes — Beech, Oak, Alder, Hazel, Hornbeam, Birch, Walnut, Holm Oak, Sweet Chestnut (male and female flowers on the same catkin), Spruce, Plane, Yew (sometimes), Box, Spindle (occasionally). The flowers of the Box are in clusters in the axils of the leaves. The male flowers are below the female on the same cluster. The Guelder-Rose has a flower-cluster composed of a number of complete flowers encircled by a row of neuter flowers (illustration, p. 270) (i.e. no pistil nor stamens). The Holly bears complete male and female flowers on the same tree, or bears only male or female flowers. Neuter flowers are also to be found. We will now consider the shapes of flowers. The flower is " regu- lar,"when all the parts of the calyx or corolla respectively are shaped alike ; of this the Apple or Blackthorn flower is a good example. It is " irregular " when the parts of either of these circles are dissimilar (examples, Horse Chestnut, Laburnum, Acacia). The construction of flowers is various ; but three forms may be taken as types : (1) Normal construction, in which the recep- tacle is a dome sup- porting the central pistil while the calyx, corolla, and stamens are arranged in circles, each circle in the above order from the base (Fig. 295). (2) The receptacleno longer a dome, but cup-shaped, with the pistil arising from the bottom of the cup, and the calyx, corolla and stamens carried on the rim of the cup (Fig. 296). Fig. 235 Fig. 296 FLOWERS, THEIR SHAPE 279 Fig. 237 (3) The receptacle planned as in No. 2 ; but enclosing the ovary, leaving only the stigmas, or the stigmas and style, projecting from its adherent walls (Fig. 297). In the first and second plans the ovary is quite free, and consists of the carpels only. In the third plan the wall of the ovary is formed by the receptacle. It may be sufficient if we de- scribe the ovary in (1) and (2) as " free," to distinguish it from (3), where it is " adnate." The purpose of such a defini- tion will be seen in the following chapter in reference to the construction of fruits. In most flowers the sepals, petals, and stamens fall off after the fertilisation, leaving only the pistil ; or the ovary alone may be left. Often the calyx remains, and in some cases the bracts also. All the cells, or the ovules they contain, do not always come to maturity. Some persistently fail (example, Oak, Hazel, Birch). Flowers not only give a new colour to trees, but for the time being alter their appearance in other ways. We see the twigs of the Elm, that through the winter have formed delicate tracery against the sky, become in March suddenly thickened and by comparison clumsy ; though the loss of pattern is atoned for at a distance by the changing colour. Birches, too, whose twigs were but a haze of lovely tone against the light, have their sky spaces filled in by a multitude of catkins far denser than the opening leaves. All these matters are common knowledge to the country man ; but less obvious, though of greater importance, is the fact that the growth of the tree is stopped at those points where flowers are produced, and the new shoots starting from other points give the branches a new direction. But this is explained in the chapter dealing with Twigs. CHAPTER- XX FRUITS In full Summer-time the ground under the Elms is carpeted as with fallen green leaves : these are the winged fruits that have hung in clusters, unnoticed except on the leafless twigs in Spring, when one might have mistaken them for foliage. In Winter, Ash " keys " (often retained throughout the cold months), as well as the cones of the Alder and the threaded balls of the Plane, are conspicuous among the naked boughs. In Spring the curious leaf-like bracts protecting the seed of the Hornbeam give an added fulness to the young foliage. These, in their way, change the trees as much as do the gay colours of the fruits on Holly, Hawthorn, Eowan, Apple or Yew. Some trees one can hardly name without thinking of their fruitage — Walnut, Horse Chestnut, Spanish Chestnut, Hazel, Cherry. Oak, and the Larch, the Scots Pine and tha Spruce with their cones. The fruits of trees may be remembered by separating them into two divisions : (1) Those that have wings or have the seed attached to hairs or tufts of down, as a means of dispersal by the wind ; (2) those sought for as food by birds and animals, and thus carried away. The fruits of these two divisions envelop their seeds in various outward forms. Some of the winged seeds are protected by cones ; others merely by the wing itself, or are attached to a bract. Some have a hard shell or husk ; but the greater number have a more or less fleshy covering. In the latter, the seed itself is protected by a strong wall embedded in the centre of the flesh. (1) Winged fruits. — Winged fruits are noticeable features on six of the forest trees — the Maple, Sycamore, Ash, Elm, Hornbeam, and Lime. The seeds of the Pine and Fir are also attached to wings, but they remain hidden in the cones up to the time of their dispersal ; and the winged seed cf the Birch forms part of a catkin. A winged fruit is called a Samara, and each membranous wing encloses one seed. Some of these fruits have very similar forms, notably that of the Sycamore and Maple (Illus. 136 and 137). In these, a rounded seed is enclosed by the membrane at the base of a flat semi-transparent wing. One fruit stalk supports two of such winged fruits, which are 280 ■::-: Illus. 135. Example of Winged Fruits — Female Catkins (Fruits) of Hornbeam (See Chap. XIX, Illus. 129, of male catkins) Illus. 136. Winged Fruit (Samara) of the Field Maple 284 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES detachable at their junction. They spread out from the stalk after the fashion of a butterfly wing. Those of the Field Maple are the most outspread, and have their junction more completely covered by the base of the wing. Occasionally we find three fruits, instead of a pair, supported by one stalk. Their green colour changes, before they ripen, to beautiful tints of pink and crimson. The pointed Ash seed is carried singly at the base of a twisted wing to spin it on its way : the Birch by a pair that resemble a horse shoe in form. The Elm seed lies in the centre of a nearly circular plate (Illus. 138). The seed of the Hornbeam is carried by a three - lobed serrated bract of leafy texture. The fruits of the Lime (Illus. 139), in small clusters, have their pedicels united to a long pendent stalk to which a thin yellow-green entire bract is attached for nearly half its length ; this wing — unlike those of the other trees — has to carry the whole bunch of fruits. Seeds provided with hairs. — All the species of Willows (botanists enumerate about thirty, I believe) and Poplars have the female flowers collected together in catkins. The seeds are Fig. 2S8. — Sycamore Illus. 138. Elm Fruits FEUITS 285 provided with a tuft of silky hair enabling them, when set free, to be caught by the breeze. One of these trees, bearing female catkins, will > / n i Illus. 139. Example of Winged Fruit — Lime Tree A drawing of the flower is given Chap. XVIII, p. 259 cover everything around it with the down that envelops the seed.1 1 Illustration, Chap. XV, p. 206. 286 THE AUTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES The drawing of one of the small Willow trees shows how the stigmas curl back ; also how the style splits when the seeds are liberated. Cones. — The female flower-cones of the Scots Pine, Spruce, and Larch, though differing in appearance, are all constructed on the same plan — that of a number of over-lapping scales in spiral order Illus. MO. Catkin (Female) of a Lesser Willow showing how the Style splits and the Stigmas curl back that the Seed with its Tuft of Hairs may be set free attached to a central axis. On the inner side, at the base of each scale, are the ovules, and on these the pollen falls. These young cones stand stiffly out from the branches, and are beautiful in colouring (Illus. 141). Those of the Spruce are waxen in texture and soft, tinted green and bronze pink ; the scales at first stand out or droop towards the base to facilitate fertilisation ; they soon become FRUITS 287 harder, however, and point to the tip of the cone. The mature cone reaches six inches in length, and becomes pendent. The mature cones differ in many respects in the different species. Those of the Silver Fir are held upright, while those of the Spruce and Hemlock Firs hang (Illustration 142). The latter are only one inch in length to the five or six inches of the Spruce, and their cones drop to pieces Illus. 141. Young Cones of Scots Pine after the seeds are dispersed, while Spruce cones fall unbroken. The tips of the scales in the Scots Pines become knobby — making an em- bossed pattern over the cone, and finally woody — in texture before the scales drop apart. Spruce cones, on the other hand, have smooth scales, and taper to a blunt end. The cone of the Silver Fir has the most cylindrical form. That of the Spruce tapers gently to bluntness at both ends, while that of the Scots Pine is more egg-shaped. lb Illus. 142. Example of Cone— Spruce Fir Illus. 143. Old Larch Cones in Winter 290 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES should be remembered that the scales of cones are furnished with bracts at the base on the outer side. These are often hidden by the overlapping of the scales, but in some of ornamental conifers they are longer than the scales themselves. The wing to which Pine seeds are attached is a part of the carpel scale on which the ovules grew. The Alder also has the female flowers clustered in a small cone. The bracts become woody, and remain on the tree after the seed has dropped. (2) Fruits which have no wings. — We have accounted for six species that have noticeable winged fruits ; also for two genera (Pines and Firs) and one species (Alder) whose winged fruits are hidden in cones ; two genera (Willows and Poplars) that congregate fruit provided with hairs ; and one (Birch) with wings in catkins. The remaining sixteen species bear fruit in which the seed is enclosed in an edible covering, or the germ is enclosed by edible seed leaves that constitute the fruit. It adds to our interest in these fruits if we follow their transformation from a flower. These fruits have been named "Drupe"; Pome; Nut ; Berry. The Drupe (Illus. 144, 145, 147, pp. 291, 292, 294) is a stone fruit constructed from a single carpel. The original layers of the ovary walls — enlarged after fertilisation — form the skin, flesh, and stone respectively, the kernel being the seed ; these normally contain one seed, sometimes two. Examples are Cherry, Blackthorn, Plum, Peach, Walnut, and Yew. Fruits formed of a compound pistil are also included — example, Buckthorn and Cornel. The Pome (Illus. 149, 150, 151, pp. 296-98) is made up of a large body of flesh, that in the flower was the receptacle that has overgrown the carpels, these carpels remaining in the fruit and forming the core, inside which are the pips or seeds, as in the Apple, Pear, and Hawthorn. In some cases the remains of the calyx tips protrude from the end of the fruit farthest from the stalk. The illustration shows this, in the formation of a pear. The lobes of the calyx are a con- spicuous feature also on the Medlar fruit. The Nut (Illus. 153, 154, pp. 300, 301 )— examples, Acorn, Beech nut, Hazel nut, Spanish Chestnut — has one cell and seed, though it is usually formed from an ovary that contained two or more cells with one or more ovules in each. For instance, the flowers of the Oak, Beech, and Spanish Chestnut have a three-celled ovary constructed by three united carpels, and each cell contains two ovules — only one of the seeds, however, comes to maturity. The cup enclosing the base of the acorn is made up of the scales that surrounded the base of the flower united into one form. The leafy cup of the Hazel nut is also formed by the union of the bracts that supported the flower. The Illus. 144. Example op Drupe — The Cherry i s ^ Illus. 147. Example of Drupe — Fruit of the Alder Buckthorn FRUITS 295 prickly covering of the Beech fruit, which usually encloses two (some- times more) nuts, is made up of the inner and outer scales of the catkin. The Spanish Chestnut bears the female flowers in groups of Illus. 148. The young Pear Fruit being formed round the Flower. The Sepals, Stamens, and Style are seen pro- truding two or three ; the fruit consists of two or three nuts enclosed in a prickly covering formed out of the four bracts that enveloped the flowers. The berry is a fruit in which the matured ovary is fleshy through- jf ^NH,JttL>*:J4«r i-aJ^ « "^ ..;._■•, Illus. 149. Example of Pome — Fruits of the Rowan Illus. 150. Example of Pome — Fruit of the Thorn-Tree ,Jt Illus. 151. Branch op the Crab-Apple Tree Example of Pome Illus. 152. Fruit of the Spindle Tree. Notice the shape of the rose-coloured capsules that enclose the seed membrane of a brilliant orange colour 302 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES out, the seeds being embedded in the pulp. The fruits of the Guelder- Rose and Elder are examples. The transition from the types of flowers that we have explained in the last chapter is shown in some of these fruits. The Cherry con- sists of the carpels ; the skin is the outer layer of the carpel, the flesh is the middle layer, and the stone is the inner layer, and the seed inside is the ripened ovule. The fruit was developed from a flower in which the pistil was free from the other forms. The Apple has the flesh formed of the receptacle, the core formed of the carpels, while the pips are the ripened ovules — the fruit, therefore, being developed from a flower in which the ovary was united to the receptacle. The Plum is formed of a single carpel, and the furrow down it corresponds to the junction of the margins of the carpellary leaf. The edible part in the Chestnut, Acorn, Walnut, and Hazel nut is provided by the seed- leaves, whose business later would have been to provide nourishment for the young plant, therefore they are protected by a hard or prickly covering. The edible part of some envelops the seed — as in the Apple and Pear ; in others, the edible portion surrounds the protecting shell of the seed. Illus. 155. Fruit of the Yew A DESCRIPTIVE T FRUITS ON THE I E OF THE c 3,3 -3 -g GOlOUJr Of JJ "0 g Seed Covw/fftf 3 z iliiiiiilil Alder x ^►X X Apple Ash X /Aspen ii X Seech x X Birch X X Qlackthorne X Mac* £>ox x *X buckthorne nfiii X >> Alder X **x Cherry Wild X X „ Gear X X< -X >, Bird X X Chestnut Spanish x x*x *g » Horse x x**x x Cornel ?g* x«>x Elder g£ X Urn X X Fir, Spruce X -*• brum » Silver X X x GuelderRose X X Hawthorne X x * Hazel x X Holly ^ X Hornbeam *■ =-) X X xn? Larch X X XX Lime X X Maple Medlar X X Oak x -*£. X » Holm x- — X X Pear X x Pine X X X Plum X x Poplar X X Privet "g x ffowan x x SpindleT/ve caf >suU 3C«LLcd rmk. AriL or«M>e Sycamore X x-s — >x Walnut* x- — > X_ 2L. YtqyfariwTm X X Birk. Lime (D) Linden. Sallow .... (E) „ Saugh and Goat Willow. Evergreen Oak . (F) ,, Holm Oak, Holly Oak, and Ilex. W. Poplar . . . (G) ,, Abele Mountain Ash (H) Rowan. Hawthorn . . . (I) ii May-bush, May-tree, Whitethorn, Quick thorn, Quick, formerly called Haythorn. Holly (J) ,, Hollen and Holm. Scots Pine . . . (K) „ (erroneously) Scots Fir. Sycamore . . . (L) it (erroneously in the North " Plane "). Acacia .... (M) (The popular name for Robinea, also called Locust). Spanish Chestnut (N) also called " Sweet " or " eating Chestnut." Elder .... (0) " Eller. Pore-tree, Bottery. 319 320 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Trees Introduced into Great Britain in prehistoric 'Ages. 3j/ the Romans Before the /6tf> cent. Jn the Z66i.ee/fA Zn the Ifth cent Tnttie /8th cent Jn the /O th cent. Oah Beech 'not in Scotland (K)dcots Pine (C) birch Ash (0)£lder(?) (H)Mountam (A) Scots Elm *(E)Sallovv White Poplar 1 Step ' Aspen Aider Yew l)Hawthorn Plane (K) Chestnut Walnut English (D) Lime Medlar Poplc Boy. t Mulberry Service ^ Peach Hazel ■f f\pricot f Apple + Quince fPear f Cherry* {BlHornbeam (LjSycamore WhiteWilbn Crack Willow Grey Poplar I Walnut- \ \iSth.ccnl:Sh>pt I Maple \ ysth denlStepl Spruce Walnut Laburnum Juniper (J) Holly (F)Frergreen Oak SCona Pine [Boj/?\ V St«.p "iedl Step Silver Fir Maple, Plane* Horse Chestnut Larch (England /tea) MAcaca ( Robinia \ [or Locust J Buckthorn Weymouth Pine Maritime Pin a Cemoran Pine Pitch Pine Larch (Scotland /ft f) Serv/ce Cedar /Medlar \ [ Step I Austrian Pine Yel/otv Pine JeFFreg Pine lYordmonP/r Douglas Fir Deodar [Lawsons \ £(/ press. Step) thitiPine\ \ Step I Guelder Pooe f Mulberry I Horse \ I Chestnut. I \ snip. } The above lists are compiled from Nisbet [British Forest Trees), with the excep- tion of those names placed in brackets. The authority for these is Edward Step. * See Wayside and Woodland 'frees, E. Step, p. 95. | See Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannic am, Loudon, 1838, vol. i. p. 15, &C. THE DISTRIBUTION OF TREES 321 Distribution of Trees in Europe Huge tracts of Europe are covered by forests, as will be seen by these figures : Percentage of Land under Forest. — Bosnia and Herzegovina, 53 per cent. ; Bulgaria, 45 per cent. ; Sweden, 44 ; Kussia, 40 ; Austria- Hungary and Luxembourg, 30 ; Germany, 26 ; Norway, 21 ; (Great Britain and Ireland, 3f per cent. !) ; other' countries, under 20 per cent. (Harmsworth Encych'pcedia) . The extent of these forests may be better appreciated by saying that in Great Britain there are roughly three million acres of woodland, and in Austria and Hungary, over forty-six millions of acres. The tables and information following give a general idea of the distribution of European trees. The table on p. 322 shows the highest altitudes at which they are commonly found. The situations (whether on wet or dry land, on mountains or in valleys, &c.) that are favour- able to each species (see table below) should, of course, be taken into consideration. The list following on pp. 323-5 gives the general habits. TREES THAT GROW ON SOILS THAT ARE Wet Moist* Dn/*r Dry Alder Oak Beech Scofefine Ash Hornbeam Oak Austrian P/ne Willow birch Lime Maritime Pine Maple As/oe" I arch Pine. Spruce. Silver fir Cemb ran Pine 322 THE AUTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Kl3dSV 1 XONXS1HO I'SHOH 3wn © N> y-acnv ~2±ihm. o ,© > 0 o '■o XD NXS3 M 3 HSI NVdS 0 o © WV3QMBOH © o «N! © o o VNVXNOW WT3 Q © "3TdVW AVAA«ON 5 s © © © laOWVDAC HSV 1 © 3Md HldOWAlM © if tfNVXNOW SrtNId O © 3N/d Nvaewao O 0 Oft© aiaiv © 1 HDdig si! "IS 0 J? MVO HSI1XW3 © HD31Q ^ cy © o NO 9 HOiJVT O 0 © 0 bid M3ATIS O o 3 o © o 3- © 8 aonijds 3 © © © 1 © © NO 3Nld 9XO0S 8 * I? z z. < v> Ul _i 12 z N (t < r a < ? cc IU O S3 I ul cc CD Ul a N cc ul Ul CC O < -1 CO 19 ^- z (0 ul <5 <0 O > ki CI ul Ul >. o h^ Z B. _l < < CC < CO (0 0. J < ul (0 ul O CC > __hr. 3 < Zi < cc \~ z. ul >• -1 < h 2: Ul Ul Z ul It > 0. < o < > ul Z < CC te Id THE DISTRIBUTION OF TREES 323 Distribution of the Chief Species of Trees in Europe BEECH m OAK »■ SPRUCE SCOTS lamMiHui PINE __ IIIIIHI^nc ^0 Fig. 300. —Map of Europe Alder. — " The Alder is found in moist situations throughout nearly the whole of Europe from Asia Minor and the Caucasus up to the 62° of latitude on the average ; ... on fen soil in the Baltic provinces of Northern Germany it is often found in pure forests of scores of square miles in extent, and at other times in extensive mixed forests along with Birch, Aspen, Ash, &c. Ash. — " The Ash is to be found over nearly the whole of Europe and the Caucasus, southwards from 63° 41' in Norway, 62° in Sweden, and 60° in Finland." Aspen (and Poplars). — " Is found over the greater part of Europe. On the low tracts south of the Baltic it covers large forest areas with the Lime as its chief associate." Beech. — " Throughout the western, the central, and most of the southern portion of Europe, also in the Caucasus. Its north-eastern limit is in Scotland, lat. 56°-57°, in Scandinavia, 61 J° on the western, and 57° on the eastern side, 54J° on the East Prussian sea coast, thence across Eastern Poland, Bessarabia, and the Crimea, towards the Caucasus. It is essentially a tree belonging to the hilly and the lower mountainous tracts of Central and South Germany, and North- Western Austria, but it also forms pure forests on the plains within the Baltic region, in Upper Silesia, and in that portion of Alsace drained by the Rhine." 324 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Birch. — " The southern limit of the Birch extends from North-west Spain, across the Pyrenees and along the southern slopes of the Alps, to Croatia, Servia, and Thrace." In the north it stretches across Scandinavia, Russia, and Siberia. Buckthorn (Cartharticus). — " Europe, Russian Asia. Not Arctic." (Bentham and Hooker.) Horse Chestnut. — "Indigenous to the mountains of Northern Greece, Thessaly, and Epirus — and eastwards to Persia, Afghanistan, and Upper India. It was introduced into Italy 1569, and Austria 1576, and into France 1613, and England 629 (according to Hess)." Spanish Chestnut. — " Throughout the whole of Southern Europe. It is found as a forest tree in the outlying ranges of Southern Switzerland and France, and forms forests of considerable extent and importance throughout Spain, Austria, Italy, and Greece." Hornbeam. — " Indigenous from the south-west of France eastwards across Central and Eastern Europe to Persia, northwards to England and Ireland (but not Scotland) and the southern portion of Sweden, and southwards to Lower Italy and Greece." Larch. — " Is indigenous to the Alps and Carpathians, the lower portion of the Silesian and Moravian mountain ranges, and the southern edge of the woodland area of Bohemia and Moravia ; outside of these limits its growth is due to artificial measures." Lime. — " The small-leaved Lime extends from Central and Northern Russia, where it forms forests westwards towards the north of Spain, northwards to Finland and Scandinavia, southwards to Southern Italy, and eastwards to Western Siberia. The larger-leaved species is indi- genous throughout Southern Europe up to Central Germany, and eastwards to the Caucasus." Norway Maple. — " Extends from 61°-62° in Scandinavia throughout Central Europe eastwards to the Caucasus, Armenia, and Northern Persia, and southwards to the Balkan Peninsula, Dalmatia, Central Italy, the Cevennes, and the Central Pyrenees." Elm. — " Throughout the greater part of Europe, Algiers, Asia Minor, and Siberia as far as the drainage of the Amur, but is characteristic rather of Southern than of Northern Europe." OaJc. — " The English Oak is found over the greatest portion of Europe, Asia Minor, and the Caucasus, its northern limit being about 58° in Scotland, 61°-63° in Scandinavia, 57|° in Russia, thence east- wards to the Ural ; its southern limit through Spain, Sicily, and Greece is not fixed." Poplars. — See Aspens. Pines (Black, Austrian, or Corsican Pine). — " Extends from Spain across Southern Europe to Asia Minor, and in the specially recognised THE DISTRIBUTION OF TREES 325 former variety (Austrian) forms extensive pine forests in Lower Austria, and south-east towards Bosnia and Herzegovina." Maritime Pine (including Pinaster). — " Is cultivated at Bordeaux and along the shores of the Bay of Biscay." Cembran Pine. — " On Alps and Carpathians and in Russia and Siberia." Mountain Pine. — "Native of mountains of Central and Southern Europe." Scots Pine. — " Nearly all Europe, greater part of Northern Asia from 71° N. latitude in Scandinavia, south to the Sierra Nevada and the Pyrenees. Covers more than 81 per cent, of the wooded area of the great North German plain, and forms forests of enormous extent in Russia." Silver Fir. — " Central and South Europe from Pyrenees eastwards to the Caucasus, northwards to the Vosges, Luxembourg, the southern edge of the Harz, Silesia, and Galicia, and southwards to Navarre, Corsica, Sicily, Macedonia, and Bithynia." Spruce. — Extends from 69° N. Lat. southwards to the Alps, Cevennes, and Pyrenees. " It forms extensive forests in Scandinavia, Finland, Lapland, and Russia. In Germany and Switzerland the Spruce is the principal forest tree on all mountain ranges and hilly tracts." Rowan (Mountain Ash). — " Is found throughout nearly the whole of Europe and of Northern Asia." White Alder. — " Is distributed throughout Central and Northern Europe, and in the greater portion of Western and Northern Asia." Willows. — " Have a wide distribution throughout Europe and Asia." Yew. — " Indigenous throughout the whole of Central and Northern Europe and Asia but occurring most frequently in Southern France, Italy, and Algiers." Note. — The descriptions in inverted commas are extracts from British Forest Trees by John Nisbet (Macmillan, 1893), a book crowded with information about trees from the forester's point of view. The map is more or less a rough copy from the Harmsworth Encyclopaedia. BIBLIOGRAPHY SYNOPSIS OF LIST British : PAGE Ceylon : PAGK Botanical .... 328 General . . 332 Popular botanical . 32* Cochin-China : Special 329 Botanical . 333 Europe : Japan : Botanical .... 329 Botanical . 333 General 329 General . 333 North America and Canada: Palestine : Botanical .... General ..... South America Botanical . General 330 330 331 331 General . Australasia : Botanical General . . 333 . 333 . 334 West Indies : General . . ASIA: 331 Africa : Botanical General . . 334 . 334 General 332 Various : India : Botanical . . . . 332, Botanical General . . 335 . 335 General 332 Special: . . 335 ABBREVIATIONS AXD XOTES Fully illus. details = a volume in which the plates are confined to figures of leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, &c., and do not show general habit of growth. n.s.d. ^natural-size diagrams. g.h.= general habit of growth. The date of publication is some guide to the style of illustration that may be expected. Many books under heading General contain interesting, but only incidental, references to flora, unless otherwise stated. The term " scenery, &c," is used in a general sense to indicate that the book is illustrated with views of characteristic scenery, architecture native life, and so forth. 327 328 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES BRITISH Botanical Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, Loudon. 1838. (8 vols.) English text. Descriptive ; historical. Includes 4 vols, of plates of a very conventional type. Encyclopaedia of Trees and Shrubs of Great Britain, Loudon. 1842. Diagrams in text. A History of British Forest Trees, P. J. Selby. 1842. " Indigenous and Introduced." Small steel engravings, g.h. Trees and Shrubs of the British Isles, Cooper and Westell. 1909. Fully illus. details (n.s.d.). The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland, Elwes and Henry. Issue of parts just completed. 6 vols, letterpress, 6 vols, photogravures. The plates are magnificent. N.B. — A large number of foreign trees are shown in their natural surroundings. This book is the latest and best of its kind. Handbook of the British Flora, Bentham and Hooker. Structural Botany, Asa Gray. Elements of Botany, M. Adrien de Jussieu. Translated by Hewetson Wilson. Elementary Botany, Joseph W. Oliver. Structural Botany, Thome. Popular Botanical British Trees, R. Vicat Cole. (2 vols., royal 4to.) Trees and all their parts described. Illus. with 500 drawings of whole trees and details. How to Know the Trees, H. Irving. 1911. Descriptive text. Illus. with good photos, (g.h.), and details. Woodland Heaths and Hedges, W. S. Coleman. Details only (wood- cuts). Our Woodland Trees, Francis S. Heath. Coloured reproductions of leaves only. British Forest Trees, John Nisbet. Not illus. Mainly forestry. Gives details of distribution and management of trees. Flowering Plants of Great Britain, Anne Pratt. Coloured illus. of flowers and fruits, arranged under the orders of the genera. Trees : A Handbook of Forest Botany for the Woodlands and the Labora- tory, H. Marshall Ward. 1909. (5 vols.) Cambridge Biological Series. Illus., g.h. and details. Familiar Trees, G. S. Boulger. 1907. (3 vols.) Good photos, and coloured plates (g.h.). Wayside and Woodland Trees, Edward Step. 1904. A pocket guide. Good photos, (g.h.). The Forest Trees of Britain, Rev. C. A. Johns. 1849. (2 vols.) Anec- dotal. Conventional engravings (g.h.). Trees and Their Life Histories, Percy Groom. 1907. 517 very fine photos, (g.h. and n.s.d.). Trees in Landscape, E. Kennion. 1815. An early specimen of " Artists' Handbook." 50 engravings (about 5^" x 8") of a very conventional nature. BIBLIOGRAPHY 329 Trees, Foreign and Indigenous, H. W. Burgess. 1827. Descriptive and anecdotal text. 54 lithos. (about 12" x 16") of trees in associa- tion with picturesque scenery. ,Sylva Britannica ; or, Portraits of Forest Trees Distinguished for their Antiquity, Magnitude, or Beauty, J. G. Strutt. 1822. English Anecdotal text. 46 etchings (about 12" x 15"). Sylva Britannica. A supplement to the above. 1830. 50 small etchings. The Forests of England, and the Management of Them in Bygone Times, J. C. Brown. 1880. Descriptive ; technical. Not illus. Special The Yew-Trees of Great Britain and Ireland, John Lowe. 1897. De- scriptive and anecdotal text. Good photos, (g.h.) and historical plates. The New Forest : Its History and Scenery, J. R. Wise. 1863. Anec- dotal. Many vignettes in text, and some full plates. The New Forestry : The Continental System adapted to British Wood- lands, J. Simpson. 1900. Technical. 8 photos, of woods. On Buds and Stipules, Sir John Lubbock. Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves, Sir John Lubbock. On Seedlings, Sir John Lubbock. Hand-List of Trees and Shrubs grown in Arboretum, Kew Gardens. EUROPE Botanical Fremdlundische Wald- und Parkbaume far Europa, Heinrich Mayr. 1906. Good photos, (g.h.). Die Bdume und Striiucher des Waldes, Hempel and Wilhelm. 1889-99. Text figures (g.h.), and details ; also fine coloured plates (n.s.d.). Flora Forestal Espanola, D. M. Laguna. 1883-90. Accompanied by folio Atlas of excellent coloured plates (n.s.d.). Forests and Forestry of Finland, J. C. Brown. 1882. Technical manual. Not illus. Forests and Forestry of Northern Russia, J. C. Brown. 1880. Tech- nical manual. Not illus. General Rambles on the Riviera, E. Strasburger. 1906. Popular descriptive text. No useful plates. The Parks, Promenades, and Gardens of Paris, W. Robinson. 1869. Many various wood engravings. The Land of the Midnight Sun : Summer and Winter Journeys through Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Northern Finland, P. B. du Chaillu. 1881. Slight ref. to flora. Wood engravings of general scenery. French Forest Ordinance of 1669, J. C. Brown. 1880. Technical ; historical. Not illus. 330 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES NORTH AMERICA AND CANADA Botanical Manual of the Trees of North America, C. S. Sargent. 1905. Illus., details in text. North American Trees, N. L. Britton. 1908. " Descriptions and Illustrations of Trees growing Independently of Cultivation in N.A., North of Mexico, and the West Indies." Numerous photos. (g.h.) and diagrams. Handbook of the Trees of the Northern States and Canada, Hough. 1907. " Photo. -descriptive." Good photos, of trunks, leaves, and fruits, &c, but not g.h. The Sylva of North America (12 folios), C. S. Sargent. 1898. Fully ill us. details (n.s.d.). Flora Boreali- Americana (2 vols.), W. S. Hooker. 1840. Fully illus. details (n.s.d.). Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts (2 vols.), G. B. Emerson. 1887. Many excellent engravings of trees in natural surroundings. Minnesota Plant Life, C. MacMillan. 1899. Popularly written. Many good photos, (g.h.). Trees of California, W. L. Jepson. 1909. Good photos, (g.h.) and line drawings. Botany of Mexican Boundary. Government Survey. 1859. Fully illus. details (n.s.d.). Botany Railroad Reptorts : Mississippi to Pacific. 1855-60. Contains a number of lithographs (g.h.) of trees. Plant Life of Maryland. Report. 1910. Many good photos, of trees and scenery. General Forest Life in Acadie, Capt. C. Hardy. 1809. Sketches of sport and nat. hist, in Lower Provinces of Canada. Engravings of scenery, &c. Field and Forest Rambles in Eastern Canada, A. L. Adams. 1873. No useful illus. Alaska, Burroughs, Muir, Grinnell, &c. 1902. (2 vols.) Many good photos, and some wa er-colours of scenery. The Mountains of California, J. Muir. 1894. Descriptive text ; a large section on the " Forests." Photos, and steel engs. of scenery. Mexico as I Saw It, Mrs. A. Tweedie. Descriptive travel. Many photos, of scenery, &c. Through Southern Mexico : The Travels of a Naturalist, H. Gadow. 1908. Good photos, of scenery. Canadian Scenery Illustrated, N. P. Willis. 1842. (2 vols.) A large number of engravings by Bartlett, conventional and somewhat inaccurate. BIBLIOGRAPHY 331 SOUTH AMERICA Botanical Flora Brasiliensis. (15 folio vols.) 1840-1906. Latin text. Fully illus. details (n.s.d.). Authors — specialists responsible for their own particular group of plants. Edited by C. F. P. von Martin and (afterwards) by E. C. Eichler and J. Urban. Florce Peruvianas, et Chilensis Prodromus, Ruiz and Pavon. (5 folio vols.) Spanish text. Fully illus. details (n.s.d.). General Notes of a Naturalist in South America, J. Ball. 1887. Descriptive travel. Not illus. The Great Mountains and Forests of South America, P. Fountain. 1902. Descriptive travel. A few plates of scenery. Rough Notes of a Journey through the Wilderness, from Trinidad to Para, Brazil, H. A. Wickham. 1872. Drawings of scenery, &c, by the author. In the Guiana Forests : Studies of Nature in Relation to the Struggle for Life, J. Rodney. 1894. 16 photos. A Naturalist in the Guianas, E. Andre. 1904. Narrative travel. Photos, of native life chiefly. The Naturalist on the Amazons, H. W. Bates. 1879. Small various steel engravings. Notes of a Botanist in the Amazons and Andes, R. Spruce. Ed. by A. R. Wallace. 1908. Large sections on Ci Forests." Some photos., trees, g.h. and various. WEST INDIES General The British Wes' Indies, A. E. Aspinall. 1912. General descriptive, good photos, of scenery, &c. At Last, Rev. C. Kingsley. 1872. Descriptive travel. Various en- gravings of scenery, trees, fruits, &c. Bermuda Islands, A. E. Verrill. 1902. Narrative; scientific. Photos, and steel engravings of scenery. The Natural History of Jamaica, H. Sloane. 1 707. A book chiefly of antiquarian interest. A section on " Flora." Fully illus. details (n.s.d.). Through Jamaica with a Kodak, A. Leader. 1907. General descriptive. Many small photos, of scenery, &c. 332 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES ASIA General Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, Sven Hedin. 1907 (5 tomes.) Narrative. Many fine photos., scenery, &c, diagrams, maps. Through Asia, S. Hedin. 1898. (2 vols.) Descriptive travel. Nearly 300 photos, and drawings of scenery, &c, some in colours. Central Asia and Thibet : Towards the Holy City of Lassa, S. He in. 1903. (2 vols.) Descriptive travel. 420 photos, and drawings of scenery, &c, some in colours. Adventures in Thibet, S. Hedin. 1904. Narrative travel. Numerous photos, of scenery, &c. Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Lieut. -Col. Chesney. 1850. Numerous good tinted lithos. of scenery, &c. INDIA Botanical Indian Trees, D. Brandis. 1906. Small plates of details in text. General Jungle Life in India, V. Ball. 1880. Diary of travel. A few illus. of scenery. The Forests of Upper India, and their Inhabitant,, T. W. Webber. 1902. Descriptive narrative. Not illus. Hnnal ay an Journals, J. D. Hooker. 1854. (2 vols.) Scientific travel. Lithos. and wood engravings of scenery. Trans -Himalaya, Sven Hedin. 1909. (2 vols.) Narrative travel. 388 photos, and sketches of scenery, &c. India and Its Native Princes, L. Rousselet. 1876. Narrative travel. A few excellent wood engravings of scenery, many of architecture. Burma,, M. and B. Ferrars. 1901. General descriptive. Many good photos, of scenery, &c. Kashmir, P. Pirie. 1909. Descriptive travel. Many coloured plates and drawings of scenery, &c. CEYLON General Ceylon : Natural Resources, Indigenous Productions, &c, J. W. Bennett 1843. A few illus., coloured, n.s.d. Eight Years in Ceylon, Sir S. Baker. 1874. Treats of jungle, &c. No useful illus. BIBLIOGRAPHY 333 COCHIN-CHINA Botanical ?lore Forestiere de la Cochinchine, L. Pierre. 1838-88. (5 folios.) French text. Litho. plates, n.s.d. JAPAN Botanical Forest Flora of Japan, C. S. Sargent. 1894. Good photos, of trees in natural surroundings. General Japan : Travels and Researches, J. J. Rein. 1884. A section on " Flora." A few general photos. Japan : A Record in Colour, M. Mempes. 1901. Descriptive travel. Many sketches of native life, scenery, &c. PALESTINE General Palestine : Physical History, J. Kitto. 1841. Small illus. in text. The Holy Land, Robert Hitchens. 1910. Descriptive ; historical. Coloured illus. and photos, of scenery, &c. The Natural History of the Bible, H. B. Tristram. 1880. A few small illus. in text. AUSTRALASIA Botanical Australian Plants, W. R. Guilfoyle. 1911. Many photos, of tree forms. The Forest Flora of New South Wales, J. H. Maiden. (Still being issued in parts.) Good photos, (g.h.) and scenery, and details (n.s.d.). South Australia. Ed. by W. Harcus. 1876. A large section on " Flora." No useful illus. The Forest Flora of New Zealand, T. Kirk. 1889. (n.s.d.) Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific, H. B. Guppy. 1906. Plant- dispersal. Not illus. The Indigenous Plants of the Hawaiian Islands, J. F. Rock. 1913. Fully illus., fine photos, (g.h., n.s.d.), &c. Flora Australiensis, Bentham and Mueller. 1863-78. 334 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES General Sunny Australia, A. Marshall. 1911. Descriptive. A section on " Timber." Good photos, of scenery. In the Australian Bush, and on the Coast of the Coral Sea, R. Semon. 1899. Observations of a naturalist. Descriptive. Various general illus. Through South Westland : A Journey to the Haast and Mount Aspiring, A. M. Moreland. 1911. Light narrative travel in New Zealand. Many photos, of scenery. A Naturalist in Tasmania, G. Smith. 1909. Good photos., forest and other scenery. Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia, G. Bennett. 1890. Various coloured plates of trees, plants, &c. The Savage South Seas. Painted by N. H. Hardy. Described by E. W. Elkington. 1907. 68 reproductions from water-colours of scenery and native life. Life in the Forests of the Far East, S. St. John. 1843. (2 vols.) Anec- dotal travel. Tinted lithos. of scenery, &c. Wanderings in the Great Forests of Borneo, O. Beccari. Good photos., gene.al scenery ; diagrams, maps. Through New Guinea and other Cannibal Countries, Capt. Webster. 1898. Many good photos., general scenery, &c. Across Papua, Col. Kenneth Mackay. 1909. Narrative travel. Good photos, of scenery, &c. A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago, H. O. Forbes. 1885. Descrip ive travel. Various illus. and diagrams in text. In Strange South Seas, B. Grimshaw. 1907. Narrative ; anecdotal. Good photos, of scenery, &c. My Tropic Isle, E. J. Banfield. 1911. Narrative of a South Sea natu- ralist. Many good photos, of scenery, trees (g.h.), &c. AFRICA Botanical The Forests and Forest Fauna of Cape Colony, T. R. Sim. 1907. 158 n.s.d. General Morocco and the Great Atlas, Hooker and Ball. 1878. Descriptive travel. Appendices D, E, F, G, " Flora." No useful illus. Liberia, Sir H. Johnston, K.C.M.G. (2 vols.) 1906. A section on " Flora " by Dr. Otto Stapf, fully illus. with photos, (g.h.) and diagrams (n.s.d.). There are also many photos, of scenery. A Naturalist in Mid- Africa, G. F. Scott-Eiliot. 1896. Good photos, of scenery. To the Mountains of the Moon, J. E. S. Moore. 1901. An account of the modern aspect of Central Africa. Good photos, and sketches of scenerv. BIBLIOGRAPHY 335 Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa, H. Barth. 1858. (5 vols.) Many good tinted lithos. of scenery. Across Africa, V. L. Cameron. 1877. (2 vols.) Desscriptive travel. Many engravings of scenery. In Darkest Africa, H. M. Stanley. 1890. (2 vols.) Descriptive travel. Sundry engravings of scenery. Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, P. B. du Chaillu. 1861. Slight reference to flora. No useful illus. Sahara und Sudan, G. Nachtigal. 1879. German text. Scientific descriptive travel. A few plates of scenery and trees (g.h.). VARIOUS Botanical The Forester, J. Nisbet. 1905. (2 vols.) Bot., industrial, and com- mercial. Numerous various photos., diagrams, &c. Timber : A Comprehensive Study of Wood in all its Aspects, P. Char- pientier. 1912. Commercial and botanical. A few illus. in text (g.h.), and some details. Manual of Forestry, S. W. Schlich. (5 vols.) Scientific and technical. Numerous photos, (g.h.), &c. Principal Species of Wood : Their Characteristic Properties, Snow. 1903. Good photos, (g.h.). Natural History of Plants, Kerner and Oliver. 1895. Many photos, of trees and plants in natural surroundings. Botany of To-day, G. F. Scott-Elliot, 1910. Section on " Forestry." General photos. Plant-Geography upon a Physiological Basis, Dr. A. F. W. Schimper. 1903. Eng. trans. Popular botanical. Characteristic photos, of vegetation in all parts of the world (g.h.), forests, &c, diagrams, details, &c. The most useful and comprehensive work of its kind. General The Elements of Picturesque Scenery, H. Twining. 1853. (2 vols.) In the nature of an "artists' handbook." Section descriptive of trees. A few wood engravings and lithos. The Wonders of the World. Various writers. 1913. Articles on curious and particular trees. Photos. The Forest. G. D. Harding. SPECIAL Manual of Coniferaz, J. Veitch. 1900. Photos, (g.h.). Historia Naturalis Palmarum, C. F. P. de Martino. 1823-50. Latin text. (Folio.) Accompanied by folio " Atlas " of coloured plates (g.h.) and details. 336 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES The Myoporinous Plants of Australia, Baron F. von Mueller, K.C.M.G. 1886. Vol. I. Descriptions. Vol. II. Atlas (n.s.d.). The Yew-Trees of Great Britain and Ireland. (See British : Special.) Popular History of the Palms, and Their Allies, B. Seemann. 1856. Numerous tinted lithos. (g.h.). Palms of the Amazon, and Their Uses, A. R. Wallace. 1853. Popular treatise. Line engravings (g.h.). The Larch, C. Y. Michie. 1885. Culture and management. 4 plates (g.h.). Genera Plantarum, Bentham and Hooker. INDEX TO DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR The numbers in this Index refer to the numbers placed beneath the Illustrations (not to the pages). References to the Diagrams are marked "Fig." BARK of Larch, 162 Lime, 164 Maple (Field), Fig. 299 Oak, 165 Spanish Chestnut, 160, 161 Walnut, 163 BRACTS, Figs. 251-262. Balance of Trunks, see Trunks. Bole, see Trunks BRANCHES of Apple, 88, 98 Ash (pendant), 39, 75 Birch (pendant), 40 Bird -Cherry, Plate XLIII Crab Apple, 38 Elm, 78 Guelder Rose, 85 Lombardy Pdplar, Fig. 112 Oak, 63, 80 (Fig. 73) Pear, Fig. 162 Spanish Chestnut, 87 Willow (Bavleaved), 89 — Growth of, Figs. 101-103, 108-116, 130, 131, 135, 145-161 BUDS of Ash, 67 Beech, 68 Elder, 67 Elm, 77 Goat Willow (Sallow), 64 Hornbeam, 68 Horse Chestnut, 94, 95 Larch. 69 Oak, 69 Poplar, Black, 71, 119 Rowan, 69 Spanish Chestnut, 72 Spruce, 73, Fig. 126 Sycamore, 65, 67 Thorn, 70 Wych Elm, 68 LUD SCALES on Horse Chestnut, 159 Maple, 157 Sycamore, 156 COMPOSITION OF TREES, Figs. 10- 34 and 75-79 ; Illus. 10 ; Massed and lighter forms, 13, 14 FLOWERS of Alder catkins, 30, 131 Apple, Crab, 59, 122 Apple (buds, 79), 91 Aspen catkins, 130 Birch catkins, 90 Bird Cherry buds, 109 Cherry, 58, 125 Cornel, 127 Goat Willow, 53 Guelder Rose, 92, 128 Hazel catkins, 117 Hornbeam catkins, 55, 129 Lime, 124 Maple (57 buds), 116, 157 Oak catkins, 111 Osier catkins, 118 Pear (110 buds), 126 Plane capitum, 120 Plum, wild, 54 Poplar, black, 119 Privet, 123 Saldw catkins, 53 Sycamore, 115, 156 Thorn, 121 Walnut, male catkin, 134 Walnut, female catkin, 133 Wayfaring Tree, 74 — Construction of, Figs. 264-26S, 290-297 — Inflorescence, Figs. 251-263 — Plans f, Figs. 269-289 FRUITS of Alder (young cones), 114 Alder, Buckthorn, 147 Apple, Crab, 151 Ash, 108 Buckthorn, 83 Cherry, 144 Cornel, 145 Elm, 138 Guelder Rjse, 85 Hazel, 153 Hornbeam, 135 Larch Cjnes, 143 337 338 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES FRUITS of Lime, 139 Maple, Field, 136 Pear (young), 148 R)WAN, 149 Scots Pine Cone, 141 Spanish Chestnut, 154 Spindle, 152 Spruce Cone, 142 Sycamore, 137, Fig. 298 Thorn, 150 Walnut, 146 Willows, 97, 140 Yew, 155 Inflorescence, see Flowers LEAVES foliage of Alder, Buckthorn, 147 Alder (young leaves), 31, 114 Apple, 98 Apple, Crab, 122, 151 Ash, 39, 108 Aspen, 43 Birch, 40, 101 Buckthorn, 83 Cherry, 144 Cornel, 127, 145 Elm, 105 Goat Willow, 61 Guelder Rose, 85 Holly, Fig. 174 Hornbeam, 99 Larch, 104 Maple, Field, 136 Oak, 103 Plane, 17, 25 Poplar, Black, 26 Poplar, Grey, 102 Privet, 123 Rowan, 149 Spruce, 142 Sycamore, 115 Thorn, 100, 150 Walnut, 146 Willow, Bayleaved, 89 Willows, 23 Yew, 24 — Patterns of, 17 ; edges of, Figs. 183-185; Veins of, Figs. 186-191 — Plans of, Figs. 168, 169, 170, 171, 173, 200-250 leaves unfolding from bud on Bird Cherry, 109 Guelder Rose, 92 Horse Chestnut, 159 Maple, 116 Maple, Field, 112 Oak, 111 Pear, 110 LEAVES on Poplar, Black, 71 Poplar, Grey, 113 Spruce, 73 Sycamore, 56 Thorn, 70 Walnut, 134 Wayfaring Tree, 74, Whitebeam, 107 Wych Elm, 96, 106 LEAF STALKS, Guelder Rose, 42. Position of, Figs. 163-172 Moonlight study, 51 Outline of trees, see Trees Petiole, see Leaf Stalks under Leaves Pollard, see Trees Roots, use of, Fig. 6. See Frontispiece. Alder roots, 82 Spines, 83. Stems, see Trunks Snoots, see Twigs Stipules of Plane, 158. Spaces between trunks, Figs. 27, 28 ; illus., 11 TREES Alder, top of, 21 Apple, 88 Ash Trees, 9 Aspen, top of, 22 Blackthorn, 35 Crab Apple, 38 Elm, top of, 18 Goat Willow, top of, 61 Holly, 60; (Stems of), Plxte XLIV Larches (wind blown), Plate XLVI Oak, 46, 48, 49, top of, 19 Poplar, Grey, 86 Poplar, Lombardy, 62, Fig. Ill Poplar, White, top of, 34 Spanish Chestnut, 87 Sycamore, top of, 20, 47 Thorn, 32, 33, 36, Fig. 105 Willow (Pollard), 37, 52 Willow (fallen), Plate XLV Young trees compared with early Italian paintings, 2 ; in masses, Fig. 7 ; their outline illus., 15, 16, 27, 60, Figs. 40-67, 99-111, 105- 107 ; near and far off, Figs. 35-39, sky, spaces of, Figs, 40, 41 Trees crowded, illus. 45, 46 Trees seen against the sun, Plate XLVIII INDEX TO DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR 339 Figs. 1-5 ; use of against masses, Figs. 8—90; spaces between, 11, Figs. 27, 28 TWIGS of Alder, 30, 31, 131 Ash, 108 Aspen, 43 Birch, 90, 101 Cornel, 76 Elm, 77 Guelder Rose, 85. 92 Hornbeam, 66, 129 Oak, 111 Poplar, Grey, 102 Spanish Chestnut, Fig. 93 Sycamore, 47, 84 Walnut, Fig. 94 Willow (Goat), 44 TREES Trees (detail of), Plate XLIII Trees spotted with sunlight, Plate XLI TRUNKS of Alder, 82 Apple, Crab, 38 Ash, 9 Blackthorn, 33 Holly, 28, Plate XLIV Larch, 50 Lime, 164 Maple, 29 Oak, 49, 165 Poplar, Black, 81 Spanish Chestnut, 160, 161 Thorn, 32, 33 Walnut, 163 Their balance (young ash trees, 9), INDEX TO THE PICTURES REPRODUCED IN THIS VOLUME The names of the Painters are in alphabetical order. (A Chronological List is given on pp. 32-34.) Bartolommeo (Fra). Part of picture, " Virgin and Child " Both (Jan). " Landscape with the Judgment of Paris " Botticelli. Part of picture, " L'Annunziazione " . Bourdon (Sebastien). " Return of the Ark from Captivity " . Claude. (1) " Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca " . (2) " Study of Tree Trunks " (3) " Study of Trees with Fishermen " . Clausen (G.), R. A. " The Road " Cole Rex Vicat). ( 1 )" The Hill Farm " .... Study in Oils of Dappled Sunlight " Trees against the Sun " ' A Pause in the Storm at Sunset " . ' Pencil Study of Trees " ' Study in Oils of Sunlight and Shade " (4) " Study in Oils of Trees against a Storm Cloud " . " The Valley Farm " ' Souvenir de Morte-Fontaine " ' Macbeth and the Witches " Credi. Part of picture, " The Virgin adoring the Creswick. " Pathway to the Church " Crome. " The Poringland Oak " Diaz. " La Beigneuse " . Dupre. " Crossing the Bridge ". Cole (Vicat), R.A. Constable. Corot. (1) (2) (2) < (3) < (1) (2) (3) Infant Christ East (Sir A.), R.A. " Under the Wold " Fisher (Mark), A.R.A. " The Pool in the "W ood Gainsborough. (1) " Wood Scene, Village of Cornard, Suffolk " (2) "The Market Cart" .... Giorgione. " Judgment of Solomon " . .... Guercino. A drawing in the National Gallery Hall (Oliver), R.E. " Sycamore Trees " — a Lithograph Hobbema. " The Avenue, Middelharnis. Holland " 341 Ulus. 1, p. 30 Plate xi Ulus. 2, p. 30 Plate x Plate vi Jllus. 4, p. 35 Illus. 5, p. 36 Plate xxxn Plate xxxvi Plate xli Plate xlviii Plate xxix Illus. 7, p. 41 Plate xl Plate xlvii Plate xxi Plat? xxin Illus. 12, p. 62 Illus. 3, p. 33 Plate xxviii Plate xix Plate xxiv Plate xxvn Plate xxxi Plate xxxv Plate xvn Plate xviii Plate in Plate v Plate xxxix Plate xiii THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES A.R.A. " Fort -St. Andre, Villeneuve, Les Avig- Hughes-Stanton nons " Lawson (Cecil). " Marshlands " Linnell. " The Wood-cutters " .... Lorraine. (See Claude) Murray (David), R.A. " Bolton Abbey " . Neer (Van der). " A River Scene : Afternoon " . North (J. W.), R.A. (1) " The Winter Sun " (2) " Pen Study of Poplars " Pater. " Fete in a Park " . ..... Poussin (Gaspard). " Abraham and Isaac " Pynacker. " Landscape with Animals " Rembrandt (School of). " Tobit and the Angel " Rosa (Salvatore). " Tobit and the Angel " . Rousseau. " A Glade in the Forest of Fontainebleau " Rubens. " Landscape " in the National Gallery . Sellaio. Part of the Picture, " Venus reclining with Cupids Stokes (Adrian), A.R.A. " Dawn in Winter " Stott (E.), A.R.A. " A Summer Idyll " Troy on. " Watering Cattle ' Turner (J. M. W.), R.A. (1) (2) " The Bay of Baise " " Blair Athol " (Liber Studiorum) Waterlow (Sir E. A.), R.A. "In the Mellow Autumn Light " Watteau. " Les Champs Ely sees " Wilson (Richard), R.A. "Landscape with Venus and Adonis " Plate xxxviii Illus. 6, p. 40 Plate xxii Plate xxxiv Plate xn Plate xxx Illus. 8, p. 43 Plate xv Plate vn Plate xiv Plate viii Plate ix Plat; xxvn Plate iv Illus. 3, p. 30 Plate xxxvn Plate xlii Plate xxv Plate xx Plate ii Plate xxxiii Plate xv Plate xvi INDEX TO LETTERPRESS (See also Index to Illustrations, p. 341 ; and to Drawings by the Author, p. 337) The subjects referred to have been grouped, thus a painter's name will be found under "Artists," and the title of a picture under "Pictures." A particular tree will be found under that part of it mentioned, such as "Bough," "Flower." In the same way the organs of flowers are in alphabetical order under "Flowers," e.g. petals, 261, stigma, 279; and the descriptive names of fruits under "Fruits," e.g. kernel, 290, samana, 280. Aetists mentioned — Angelico, Fra, 44 Arnesby Brown, 42 Bellini, Giovanni, 32 Birch, Lamorna, 42 Both, Jan, 36, 37 Botticelli, 44 Boucher, 38 Bourdon, 36 Brickdale, Eleanor, 43 Cadogan Cowper, 43 Claude, 35, 37, 44 Clausen, 42, 80 Constable, 29, 39, 51 Corot, 29, 31, 39, 46, 57, 78 Cotman, 39 Cox, 39 Credi, L. di, 32 Creswick, 31, 39 Crome, 38, 39 Davis, H. W. B., 42 Degas, 44 Diaz, 31, 39 East, Alfred, 43 Fisher, Mark, 42, 80 Foster, Birket, 42 Fragonard, 38 Gainsborough, 38 •Giorgione, 31 Girt in, 39 Guercino, 36 Hall, Oliver, 42 Harpignies, 44 Hayden-Seymour, 42 Hobbema, 36, 37, 38, 57 Hughes-Stanton, 42 Lawson, Cecil, 31, 39 Leighton, 42 Artists mentioned — Libri, Girolamo dai, 00 Linnell, 39 Mauve, 46 Millais, 38, 41, 86 Millet, 41, 53-55 Monet, 44, 58 Monticelli, 31, 39 Midler, 39 Murray, D., 42, 45 Nasmyth, 39, 44 Neer, Van der, 36, 37 North, J. W., 41, 42, 86 Parsons, A., 42 Pater, 38 Pickering, J. L., 42 Poussin, Gaspard, 36, 37 Poussin, N., 35, 36, 37 Pynacker, 36, 38 Rackham, A., 43 Rosa, Salvator, 36 Rembrandt, 36, 37 Reynolds, 22-23, 52-53, 149 Riviere, Briton, 61 Rousseau, 29, 31 Rubens, 35 Ruisdael, 37, 38 Shaw, Byam, 43 Speed, H., 44 Stanhope, Forbes, E.. 42 Steer, Wilson, 42 Stokes, A., 42 Titian, 35 Troy on, 31 Turner, 29, 31, 39, 45, 59, 61, 136 Vicat Cole, G., 41, 86 Walker, Fred, 41, 42, 86 Waterlow, Sir E., 42 343 314 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES Artists mentioned — Watteau, 38 Wilson, 38 Wint, De, 39 Wyllie, W. L., 59 Wynants, 37 Age, effect of, on trees, 123-126, 151, 153, 185, 186 Altitudes, table of growth at highest, 322 Anatomy of branches, see Branches Angles of branches, see Branches. Anther, see Flowers. Associations connected with trees, 133- 136 Balance of dark and light spaces, 56- 59 ; of large and small objects, 59-63 ; of masses and delicacy, 63.64; in trees, 47-49, 104 Bark of Acacia, 318 Alder, 318 Ash, 318 Beech, 311 Birch, 115, 311, 318 Cherry, 318 Chestnut, Spanish, 318 Cornel, 318 Elder, 115, 318 Elm, 318 Hazel, 318 Holly, 115 Hornbeam, 318 Larch, 318 Lime, 311 Maple, 311, 318 Oak, 311, 318 Pine, Scots, 311, 318 Plane, 311, 318 Poplar, Black, 318 Poplar, Grey, 318 Poplar, White, 318 Rowan, 318 Spindle, 318 Sycamore, 318 Wayfaring Tree, 318 Withies, 318 Bracts, 279, 280, 290, 304, 307, 308 Branches of Ash, 94, 106, 158, 172, 174 Beech, 158, 176 Birch, 94, 107, 188 Black Thorn, 99 Elm, 158 Holly, 112 Hornbeam, 102 Lime, 176 Oak, 100, 158, 188 Poplar, Black, 155 Poplar, Lombardy, 155 Poplar, White, 98 Sycamore, 125, 186 Willow, 94 Willow, Pollard, 103 Branches — Angles of, 99, 108, 125, 175, 187-193 Arrangement governed by buds, 160- 185 Growth of the, 151-157, 171-186 Likeness to twig, 162 Lines formed bv, 95-109 Pendant branches, 106, 108, 194 198 Proportion of, 193 Seen against the sky, 45 Berry, see Fruits Bibliography, 327 Botany, use of, 147 : books on, see Bibliography, 327 Boughs, see Branches British Trees, indigenous and intro- duced, 319-320 Buds of Alder Buckthorn 164 Apple, 164 Ash, 164, 176 Beech, 164 Birch, 164 Bird Cherry, 164 Cherry, 164 Chestnut, Horse, 164, 176 Chestnut, Spanish, 164 Dogwood, 164 Elder 164 Elm, 164 Fir, Silver, 170 Guelder Rose, 164 Hawthorn, 164 Hazel, 164 Holly, 170 Hornbeam, 169 Lime, 164 Maple, 164 Oak, 164, 170 Pear, 164 Plum, 164 Poplars, 164 Privet, 171 Sloe, 164 Spindle, 171 Spruce, 169-170 Sycamore, 171 Walnut, 164 Wayfaring Tree, 164 Willows, 164 Arranged singly, 164 ; additional buds 183-185 ; bud scales, 308 ; clus- tered, 169-170 ; opposite buds, 162 ; protection of, 203 ; protection by leaf stalks, 308 ; their influence on branches, 171-185 Colour, Notes on By moonlight, 132 Exercises in, 119 Instinct for, 19, 20 Variety, &c, in, 116-119 Composition Definition of, 23, 24 INDEX TO LETTERPRESS 345 Composition — Of trees, 51-64, 103 Clausen, quotation from R.A. lectures, 80 Cotyledons, see Seed Leaves For Catkins, Corymb, Capitum, Cyme, Calyx, Corolla, Carpel, see Flowers Design In landscape, 21 In trees, 78-81 Deciduous trees, 227 Details of trees, 201-207 Distribution of trees in Europe 321-325 Drawing By masses and by lines, 20-21 Drawings by Claude, 36 Drupe, see Fruits Etchings by Turner, 29, 61 ; Sevmour Hayden, 42 ; Claude, 36 ; Oliver Hall, 42 ; Jan Both, 37 Europe, distribution of trees in, 321-325 Evergreen trees, definition of, 227 Foliage, see under Leaves For Florets and Filament, see Flowers Frost, notes on, 130 Flowers Description of organs of, i.e. — Anther, 261, 271 ; Carpels, 263, 290, 302 ; Calyx, 261, 263, 269, 278, 290 Corolla, 261, 263, 269, 278 ; " Com plete " flowers, 261, 269, 271 ; Fila ment, 261 ; Female flowers, 271 Male, 271 ; Neuter flowers, 263 269 ; Ovary, 261, 263, 279, 290 302; Ovules, 269, 271, 290, 302 Pistil, 261, 263, 269, 271, 278, 302 Petals, 261 ; Pollen, 261, 269 Receptacle, 261, 278, 279, 290 302; Stamens, 261, 263, 269, 271 278 ; Sepals, 261, 263 ; Stigma 261, 263, 279; Style, 261, 279 Scale, 269 Description of types of, i.e. — Bisexual, 271; Catkin, 249; Co rymb, 249, 252, 260 ; Capitum, 249 252 ; Cyme, 260 ; Cymose Umbel 260 ; Corymbose Cyme, 260 ; Cyme Panicled, 260 ; Dioecious, 271 ; " de finite," 248, 249, 260 ; "indefinite,' 248, 249 ; " Irregular," 278 ; Monce cious, 271 ; Polygamous, 271 ; Pa nicle, 249; Raceme, 249 ; "Regular,' 278; Tricecious, 271; Umbel, 249, 260, 307 ; Unisexual, 269, 271 Flowers on trees Acacia, 249, 278 Alder, 249, 271, 278 Apple, Crab, 260 Apple, 263, 271, 278 Ash, 269, 271, 278 Aspen, 278 Flowers on Trees — Beech, 263, 278 Birch, 249, 269, 271, 278, 279 Black Thorn, 278 Box, 278 Buckthorn, 271 Cherry, 263. 269 Cherry, Bird, 249 Cherry, Wild, 260 Chestnut, Horse, 278 Chestnut, Spanish, 249, 269, 278 Cornel, 263 Elder, 260 Elm, 278 Firs, 271 Guelder Rose, 263, 269, 278 Hazel, 249, 269, 271, 278, 279 Hawthorn, 260 Holly, 263, 271, 278 Hornbeam, 263, 278 Laburnum, 249, 278 Lime, 260, 263 Maple, Field, 249 Maple, 263 Oak, Holm, 278 Oak, 249, 263, 269, 271, 278, 279 Pine, Scots, 269, 271, 278 Plane, -249, 278 Plum, 263, 269 Poplars, 249, 271, 278 Poplar, Black, 278 Privet, 260 Rowan, 260 Spindle, 260, 263, 271,278 Spruce, 278 Sycamore, 249 Walnut, 249, 278 Willow, Goat, 278 Cross fertilisation of flowers, 269 Fecundation of flowers, 269 Shapes of flowers, 261-279 (Figs. 269- 289) Fruits Acorn, 290 ; berry, 290, 295, 302 ; cones, 280, 286-290 ; core, 290 ; cells, 290 ; drupe, 290 ; descriptive table of, 303; edible fruits, 280; hairy, 280, 284, 285; kernel, 290; nut, 290 ; pome, 290 ; pips, 290 ; seed, 290; Samara, 280; winged, 280-284 fruits on the trees Alder, 280 Apple, 280, 290, 302 Ash, 280, 284 Beech, 290, 295 Birch, 280, 284, 290 Blackthorn, 290 Buckthorn, 290 Cherry, 280, 290, 302 Chestnut, Horse, 280 Chestnut, Spanish, 2S0, 290, 295, 302 Cornel, 290 Elm, 280, 284 346 THE ARTISTIC ANATOMY OF TREES FRUITS ON THE TREES Hawthorn, 280, 290 Hazel, 280, 290, 302 Hemlock Firs, 287 Holly, 280 Hornbeam, 280, 284 Larch, 280, 286 Lime, 280, 284 Maple, 280 Maple, Field, 284 Medlar, 290 Oak, 280, 290, 302 Peach, 290 Pear, 290, 302 Pine, Scots, 280, 286, 287 Plane, 280 Plum, 290, 302 Poplar, 284, 290 Rowan, 280 Silver, Fir, 287 Spruce, 280, 286, 287 Sycamore, 280, 289 Walnut, 280, 290, 302 Willows, 284, 290 Yew, 280, 290 Inflorescence, see Flowers Indigenous trees, 319-320 Introduction of trees into Britain, 319- 320 Italian Primitives, painting of trees by, 31, 32 Knowledge and appearances, notes on, 150 Leaf Arrangement on Twigs, 208-226; clustered, 216 ; in right-angled pairs, 208-211 ; singly in tv;o rows, 211-213; scattered in more than two rows, 213-216 Leaves Colour of, 128, 233 ; characteristics of foliage, 69-70; spacing of, 214- 215 ; sunlight on, 115 ; texture of, 128, 232-233 FOLIAGE of Alder, 73, 216, 234, 235, 236, 238 Alder Buckthorn, 235 Aspen, 73, 233, 235 Buckthorn, 233 Elm, 70, 235, 238 Oak. 72, 220, 235, 236 Pear 233 Plane, 67, 76, 228, 233, 235 Plum, 228 Poplar, Black, 77, 233, 235 Poplar, Lombardy, 233 Poplar, White, 233 Walnut, 234 Willow, Goat, 233, 236, 238 Willows, 74, 216, 224, 228, 235, 238 Yew, 75 Forms of Young Leaves, 228 Leaf Stalks, 128, 210, 216, 224-226 Leaves of Seedlings, 310 Seed leaves, 201, 202, 310 Light and Shade Notes on, 20, 110-116 Lines compared, 82-95 Lines of the branches, see Branches Plan of Leaves, 233-235 (see Figs. 200- 250) Their margins, 235-236 ; veins, 236 ; planes of, 238 Position of Young and Old Leaves, 216, 222, 224 Unfolding from Bud, 201, 228 Margin of trees, see Trees Millet, J. F., quotation on Nature and Art, 53-55 Moonlight notes, 130-132 Names (popular) of Trees, 319 Nut, see Fruits Outline of Trees, see Trees Ovary, see Flowers Painters, list of, see Artists Pictures illustrated, see index to illus- trations Pictures Mentioned (see also Artists, and Index to Illustrations, p. 341) "Avenue," by Hobbema, 57 " Blair Athol," (etching), Turner, 29 " Boar Hunt," Rubens, 31 " Bolton Abbey," David Murray, 92 " Cephalus and Procris " (etching), Turner, 29 "Champs Elysees, Watteau, 38 "Dance under Trees," (etching), Claude, 36 " Death of St. Peter," Bellini Drawings by Claude, 36 " Eel Bucks at Goring," Miiller, 39 " Egeria and Nymphs," Claude, 36 " Flight into Egypt," Claude, 35 "Hay Wain," Constable, 39 " Macbeth and Witches," Corot, 61 "Madonna, Infant Christ," Giro- lamo dai Libri, 32 " Return of the Ark," Bourdon, 37 " River Scene," Van der Neer, 37 " Souvenir de Morte-Fontaine," Corot, 57 " Spring," Fred Walker, 42 "The Swing," Fragonard, 38 " Tobit and the Angel," Rem- brandt, 37 " Tobit and the Angel," Salvator Rosa, 37 " Vale of Rest," Millais, 38 " Valley Farm," Constable, 39 INDEX TO LETTERPRESS 347 Pictures Mentioned "Village of Cornard," Gains- borough, 38 "Virgin Adoring Infant Christ," L. de Credi, 32 "Watering Place," Gainsborough, 38 Perspective or Trees, 59-63 Patterns of foliage, see Leaves Poise of trees, 47-49, 104 Pollard Trees, 103, 134 For Panicle, Pistil, Petals, Pollen, see Flowers Petiole, see Leap Stalks Pome, see Fruits Proportion of branches, see Branches Quotations. See Reynolds, Millet, Rus- kin, Clausen Reproduction, organs of, in Flowers, 261-263, 269 Reynolds, quotations from Sir Joshua (1) on Dexterity in painting, 22-23 ; (2) on composition, 52, 53; (3) Study of Nature, 53 ; (4) on work- ing, 149 (2 quotations) Roots, use of, 49 For Raceme, Receptacle, see Flowers Scales, 290 Seeds, means of dispersion, 203 Seed-leaves, see Leaves Shoot, see Branches and Twigs Single trees, see Trees Snow, notes on, 130 Soils suitable for trees, 321 Spines, 308 Spurs, 185 Stems, see Trunks Stools of trees, 123 Suckers, see Twigs, additional For Stamens, Sepals, Stigma, see Flowers Sky seen Through Trees, 69-81 Stipules on Beech, Elm, Guelder Rose, Horn- beam, Holly, Lime, Norway Maple, Field Maple, Plane, Walnut, Wych Elm, 304 For Sepals, Stamens, Stigma, see Flowers Tones Scale of, 51, 110, 114 95, 110 ; variety in, Trees Their balance, 47, 49 ; edges of, 69- 78 ; effect of old age, 123-126, 151, 153, 185-186 ; effect of wind, 128 grouped, 51-53 ; Growth of, 157 187 ; growth, methods of, com pared, 155-159 ; growth of Oak 157 ; Lombardy Poplar, 155 Black Poplar, 155 ; light and shade of, 56-59; moonlight on, 130-132 massed, 51 ; names of, 319 ; out line compared, 151-159 ; outline of 51, 64-67, 82-94, 123; pattern of 69-81 ; seen near and far off, 64-68 single trees, 49-51 ; situation, in- fluence of, 121-123, 133-136 Trunks Balance of, 47-50, 104 ; growth of, 187-188; outline of, 104; trunks of birch, 104, 125 ; Crab Apple, 105 ; Thorn Trees, 96, 97 Twigs Arrested in growth, 185 ; additional 185 ; likeness to branch, 162 ; posi- tion taken by, 193, 198 ; shape of, 111-116 twigs of Alder, 112 Apple, 179 Apple, Crab, 185 Ash, 112, 172, 194 Aspen, 117 Birch, 194 Buckthorn, 185 Chestnut, Horse, 116 Chestnut, Spanish, 112 Cornel, 175 Elder, 175 Larch, 116 Oak, 194 Pear, 194 Pine, Scots, 194 Sallow 160-161 Sloe, 185 Sycamore, 160, 161, 186 Thorn, 111, 185 Walnut, 112 Umbel, see Flowers Veins, see Leaves Wind in trees, 128 Printed in Great Britain at The Mayflowe? Press, Plymouth. William Erendon & Son, Ltd. 1920 Date Due tAjfJt uav 1 1 im- '(*•—" ■ i Library Bureau Cat. No. 1137 w ELLS BINDERY AtTHAM. MASS. StfT. 1947 .Co i 3 5002 00130 6724 AUTHOR NC 810 C75" /Ccr&2-_ 'firjfshi finziornoi oj~7r{ ec^ DATE DUE BORROWER'S NAME p*lTl>